Come Back to Me
by Never Ending Illusions
Summary: DISCONTINUED A few years have passed. The humans are leading different lives and the Autobots decide to come back to Earth because of new Decepticon activity. Will they stay for good this time or will they leave behind what they once left before?
1. Chapter 1

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. I do own Zaru Kiys. I own Club Kunoichi. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own characters with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: WOW! The prologue is finally out! Yippee! Enjoy!

**Prologue**

"_No…" Is what Leiana and the humans whispered. _

"_Why, Optimus? Why do you suddenly decide to do this!" Zaru cried out from her seat on Mirage's foot. How she wanted to hold onto her spark mate for dear life at this point. "It's not fair!"_

_Optimus just sighed heavily. "Zaru, I am sorry. But this is a decision that has been made for a long time now. Once the leader of the Decepticons was captured or destroyed, we would make our way back to Cybertron soon after."_

_Beth shook her head. "Why didn't you say anything until now?" Tears cascaded down her paled cheeks. "Didn't you know how heartbroken we'd all be?"_

"_Optimus, we cannot just leave. Our spark mates are here on Earth." Mirage stated while picking up his own gently in his hands. "And it's not like we can just bring them to Cybertron either."_

"_I'm very sorry, Mirage. But it is the way it has to be." _

That was only part of what she remembered from three years ago after the Autobots were finally able to capture Starscream. And after more arguments from the spark mates and Autobots alike, the Prime leader ended the discussion by simply leaving the room they currently occupied. It was his way of basically saying 'I'm sorry, but we're leaving.'

Zaru Kiys sat staring at the screen of her laptop before it blacked out into sleep mode. Her auburn hair was very disheveled, several strands of hair covering her blue eyes. She reached up, shoving the hair behind her ears and rubbing her weary eyes, dark circles appearing underneath due to lack of sleep. It was mostly due to the club work she'd been keeping herself busy with for the past few years ever since their friends left Earth for Cybertron.

She could not believe it had been three years since she last saw her own spark mate. Of course she'd never forget him. Mirage was on her mind at least part of the day when she wasn't too busy. Even though she probably should move on with her life and find somebody to be with, she just couldn't do it. It would mean she was cheating on him. And that was something she frowned upon. The poor woman was doomed to spend the rest of her life alone just knowing she had a lover out there just for her, but could never be with him anymore.

Zaru rubbed her eyes once again and pounded on the laptop mouse pad which awakened it from sleep mode. The screen was filled up with a bunch of numbers and words that blurred in her vision.

"This is ridiculous." She muttered, saved whatever work she had done and slammed the lid of the computer down.

The 27-year-old rested her chin on her hands, eyeing her office. It was still a little strange to her, being in this new building. Even though it was almost three years since it was rebuilt, nothing was the same. A half-circle tan desk with matching tan furniture and shelves surrounded the small office space. The decorations were different as well, except for the pictures hanging on the walls and a few on her desk. The surrounding frames told a story over the years of friendship and a love that was everlasting, but could never be near.

A small smile appeared on her face as she picked up a picture of her and a holoform image of Mirage. They were both smiling while sitting on the hood of his alt mode, his arms around her shoulders while she leaned back against him. It was one of the only pictures she had left of him aside from the one of his lone alt mode hanging with a bunch of the others on a wall opposite her desk.

'_We'll be back one day, Zaru. I promise you!' _That was one of the last things Mirage said before he stepped onto the space bridge Skyfire and Wheeljack invented and headed up at warp speed to their home planet.

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Zaru stood up and walked around the office. She had to ease her mind somehow and think of other things currently going on. Especially twin girls she had taken under her wing and adopted shortly after the transformers left.

Smiling a little, she didn't notice the door of her office opening revealing two teens who mirror imaged each other.

"Hey, mom." One of them called to her, waving a little as she stepped further into the room. "How's work going?"

Zaru turned startled by the sudden call. "Oh, Aery. Please don't scare me like that! I wasn't paying attention to the door!"

She laughed a little, struggling a little with the strap of her black messenger bag hanging from her shoulder. "Sorry. But you gotta be alert when you're alone in a building like this." Aery smiled.

"Yeah. Well, Rose was here awhile ago, but she had to leave to run an errand for me."

"Will Aunt Rose be back? She's supposed to take us shopping for new school stuff." Maddie asked.

Their adopted mother raised an eyebrow. "I already took you guys shopping for school stuff two weeks ago and school is already in session since last week. Why do you need more?"

"Because _you _promised to take us to buy more outfits, but because you were so busy, Aunt Rose said she would take your place."

"Really? I don't recall ever promising you that." Her arms folded across her chest with a grin on her face. "Or did you ask me when I was too busy and just said yes to everything you said?"

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. "It's always the best time to ask you for something you would usually say no about."

Zaru couldn't help but smile at those two. They were two simple joys in her life, filling a void that she thought would never be filled ever again. Ever since she and her father took them away from their mentally abusive foster family, she loved them. At first, it was only giving them a good home until they would be able to find another to be fostered in, but it took a short amount of time for her to realize how much happiness they brought her. And so, she fought for several months with Child Protection Services on being able to adopt the two girls. Since she was not married, they didn't want to hand over children who would not have a male role model, but as soon as her father stepped in saying he would take the role, it was judged that she was able to have legal custody and adopt the twin girls right away. Aery and Maddie had their last names erased and changed to Kiys to finalize the bond between them.

"All right, Maddie. As soon as Rose gets back, I guess she can take you guys out."

"Oh, mom, you're the best!" Aery ran up to hug her, but was stopped as soon as she opened her arms.

"_But…_" Zaru held up her hand. "You are not to ever go over my head again, do you hear me?"

"Yes, mom." The girls answered at the same time.

"Good. Now, do you girls want something to eat? I'm sure you have lots to tell me about school and have a lot of homework to do."

"Yeah. I have a history paper to work on." Aery opened her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. "These are all the things I need to include and what I would need to make a presentation for it."

Zaru gladly accepted it and looked it over. "Well, I have most of these things at the house you can use. But we'll go shopping for the other stuff. In the meantime, you can hook up your laptop downstairs and do some internet research. Unfortunately, I had to change the wireless network password for the club so I'll have to type it in there for you." She handed her daughter back the paper. "And what about you, Maddie? What big thing do you have to work on?"

"I have a stupid paper to do for history, too, but it's not as complicated as hers. And it's not due until next Friday, so I think I'll work on my math instead right now." Maddie pulled a big math book out of her bag. "The teacher gave us two lessons for homework tonight. Can you believe him? I really hate him."

"Even though you enjoy math, you hate all the homework he gives."

"Yeah, well, working on two different things each time kind of muddles up the one brain cell I have working for me right now." She mumbled jokingly.

"Damn, you girls really can be a handful when it comes to schoolwork." The auburn-haired woman pulled her hair back and tied a band, releasing it into a ponytail. "Come on. Let's see what we can get done for now."

An hour later, the back door of the club opened revealing a mature-looking gothic woman wearing a black top with a fishnet shirt and a short plaid skirt with heavy looking combat boots. Her dark red hair hung loosely around her with a few black clips holding some of the hair behind her ears.

"'Ello, my loves." She waved gleefully at the small group of girls at the bar area currently working in silence.

"Aunt Rose!" Aery grinned and jumped from blue bar stool, running to her with joy. "Ah, I missed you!"

Rose's eyes softened as she embraced the young blonde back. "I missed you, too, Aery."

"Geez. It's only been a few days since you've seen her." Zaru slightly shouted from behind the bar.

"Well, it feels like a long time, mom! You know how much I love Aunt Rose!"

That was true. Aery had become attached to Rose since they first met. She found her fascinating with the British accent and her style of dress. Every time she'd stop by or see her, it was always with a hug attached. The two became so close, they often went out together to movies or go to the local amusement park. Rose was the one who even got Aery interested in the history museum which took up a lot of Aery's free time.

"Aery, you can let your aunt go now. I think she would like you to stop mauling her for a moment at least."

Huffing, she reluctantly let go, and went back to her work at the bar.

Rose Connelly shook her head and moved to sit at the other end of the counter area hoping to speak to Zaru without the girls hearing.

"So, how are you feeling today, love?" She asked setting a hand on her friend's.

"If you're wondering if I was thinking of him, I was earlier. At least until the girls came into my office talking about shopping. Again."

She grinned nervously. "Well, I did say I would take them, but only if I had your permission. I know you don't like it when they do something without you knowing."

The club owner pulled two glasses from the rack above the bar. "Nah. I don't mind it. As long as it's you, it's okay." A bottle of daiquiri was taken from under the bar. "You want?" She waved the bottle while smiling.

"Of course."

As she poured the two glasses, she couldn't help but think back to the times when Mirage would be sitting across from her with a big grin on his face as she worked. He was always watching her intently doing her job, thinking she was great at what she did. A vision of his holoform appeared in Rose's place.

"_You really do enjoy your job, don't you, Zaru?"_ The vision asked her.

Her eyes shimmered with water. "Yeah, I do." She whispered and stopped halfway in pouring Rose's glass.

She couldn't help but wonder what her friend was saying, but saw the tears ready to come. "Zaru?"

A tear fell and she slammed the bottle down on the counter. "Rose, why did he leave me? Why did they abandon us?"

"Oh, love." Rose moved quickly from her seat and moved behind the counter, pulling her best friend close, her own tears ready to shed. "I don't know why they left."

"I want him back with me, Rose. I want Mirage here with me." She whispered as she held tight to Rose.

"Yeah. I wish Ratchet were back here as well, Zaru."

Wheeljack sat in the empty Security Room all by his lonesome. He was very bored doing nothing but staring at a monitor for the better part of the day and realized he was in much need of recharge. But what was a few more minutes checking for any other Decepticon activity? He could sleep during the night when it was peaceful. After all, Optimus had left the entire base in his care as well as the humans they promised to protect. Especially the spark mates who were not at ease once they retreated back to their home planet.

He had been easily swayed by the idea of living on Earth without any of his comrades with him. Wheeljack was able to work in silence without the interruption of the twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker at every moment that was crucial for an experiment. But with years going by, he missed them little by little, wondering if he would get that interruption at least once more so he could smack their heads together for fun and welcome them back with open arms.

His blue optics closed, realizing he was in much need of a recharge before he began his patrol around Tranquility and checking on a few of the humans he watched over.

Standing up from the chair he occupied, he stretched, metal scraping against metal and circuits ready to die down for the night.

"Ah! That's much better. Time for recharge." The lights on the sides of his head flashed with each word he spoke and pressed a few buttons for an automatic link to him from the computer if any Decepticon activity happened.

Only a moment before he headed through the hissing double doors that led out of the room, a message came on the screen, alerting him quickly. Running back to the computer, looked up, only to see several Cybertronian symbols appearing on the screen.

"What? Are they serious?" He pressed a button and it opened a video call, dots appearing and disappearing on the screen waiting to connect with whomever sent him the message.

Next thing he knows, the face of Optimus Prime appeared on the screen. "Wheeljack, my friend, how are you?"

How happy he was to hear from his commander. "Optimus, I am all right, sir. Are things well on Cybertron?"

Optimus sighed. "We are still trying to rebuild our home, but it is taking a very long time to do that."

"What of Starscream and Shockwave? Have they been judged yet?" Wheeljack had always wondered if the two Decepticons were imprisoned or if his leader would try to rehabilitate them. Perhaps even reprogram them for good.

The Prime leader let out a laugh. "Wheeljack, I finally get a hold of you and you worry about Starscream?"

"My apologies, sir, but I am just curious as to how everything is going."

"That's understandable, Wheeljack, old friend. But there is a reason I am contacting you right now and I wish you will keep it between us for the time being."

"Oh? What secret do you wish to give me, Optimus?"

"We, along with Starscream and Shockwave, will be returning to the planet in four Earth days."

Wheeljack, to say the least, was stunned.

TBC…

A/n: And that's a wrap for the prologue to the story. It seems a little quick for a beginning, doesn't it? LOL. But it's okay. Things will be spread out a little better from here on out, so I do hope you enjoyed the prologue of the new story.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	2. Chapter 2

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: Okay… just a quick edit. At the end of the prologue, I wrote that the Autobots would be coming back to Earth in four days… Well, that's too soon for me, haha. So I will be changing that last part and then reposting it. But anyways, enjoy the first chapter of the story. J

**Chapter 1**

Later that night, _Kunoichi_ was closing its doors to the last of the customers retreating from the huge white building. The music had died down much to Jade's dismay as she, herself, jumped from the stage and pulled the kerchief from her damn hair. Shaking it off, the 22-year-old made her way toward the bar area wondering if her boss was nearby. It had been a pretty long night and she was tired, hoping to receive permission to head on out.

"Yo, Zaru." She called, looking over the bar and seeing now-green hair cascading freely down a small back. "Hey, girl, what're you doing down there?"

The club owner popped her head up quickly, scaring Jade back into the stool. "Haha. Sorry, Jadie. I was just making sure all the alcohol was closed." Zaru pulled up a bottle of Jack Daniel's. "And this one is cracked and leaking so I gotta get rid of it." And proceeded to dump the bottle into the small sink behind her.

Jade shook her head. "Rose told me what happened earlier when she came to see you."

The bottle fell from Zaru's hand into the sink, clanking heavily. "She did, huh?" The woman turned around glancing at Jade sadly. "It was just a small thing that happened."

"Small thing? You broke down in front of the girls. And pretty soon they're going to be asking questions about what's wrong with you. I hope you realize that."

Zaru leaned back against the sink and asked, "Do you ever think about Skyfire?"

The singer sighed. Of course she thought about Skyfire every single day. He was her spark mate and they were bonded in more than one way. The two of them were also spark partners, always happy to be around each other, learning a new thing about the other mate daily. But ever since they left, the spark bond that was placed between them had waned somehow and later, she could no longer feel his love for her. That was the only time Jade cried the most. To not feel him near, it felt like she was dead.

"Yeah. I do think about him, Zaru, but I try not to knowing that I would cry."

"You know, if I could speak to Mirage just once, even if it's just a screen between us, I think I'd feel a whole lot better." But her blue eyes dimmed. "The pictures I have are not enough to feel close to him." Jade nodded sympathetically because she understood the situation happening. "But I guess those are the only memories that I can hang onto for the time being."

Jade knew her friend was right. With very little left of their Autobot allies on Earth, there was no attachments except for a picture or two and a memory. The times they all spent together were deep in her mind and she wanted to cherish them forever. Even if they were never seen again.

"You'll be all right. Three years have come and gone and we've all done well for ourselves, don't you think? I mean, after they left, sure things were very hard on us, but we managed to pull ourselves together and live on."

Zaru just sighed and smiled. Jade pretty much knew all the right things to say when the moment called for it. And this was one of those times.

"Yeah I know, Jade." Reaching over, she patted the hand of the brunette whose blond streaks had faded away. "Thanks."

"Oh, love, don't tell me you're moping again." A familiar British voice called down from the top floor. "If you are, I'm going to have to knock some sense into you!"

The two females just laughed. "Say, if you still feel a little bad, why don't go pay Wheel jack a visit at the base? That might cheer you up some to see someone familiar, yeah?"

"Oh, I would so much like to visit him, Jadie, but I gotta get home to the girls. I have to make sure all of their homework is completed and that they actually went to bed for school tomorrow which I'm sure they didn't."

"Maddie still tries to stay up this late?" Jade raised a delicate brow.

"Yeah. You wouldn't believe what I have to do these days just to get them to go to sleep. I have to threaten to call my dad if they don't listen."

Arc, still young, loved the idea of being a grandfather, even though they weren't officially Zaru's biological children. But nonetheless he loved them very much and always made time for them himself. It was him who laid the strict policies and rules on the girl better than his daughter. Although she seemed she could discipline them well, it wasn't enough when they broke the bedtime rules. And he stepped in all the time just to make sure they did as told.

"Your dad really sets those twins straight, doesn't he, love?" Rose asked making her way down the stairs. She admired Arc's actions toward the girls. Unfortunately, she felt as though he was trying to make up for the time lost with Zaru by attaching himself to the twins, spending as much time with them as he could.

"He certainly does, Rose, and they just love him so much. Sometimes makes me wonder how my dad and I would have been if my mom didn't shove him away from me like she did back then." Zaru pulled a glass from above the bar and headed back to the sink for a glass of water. "But, anyways, I best get going. Parenting is a 24/7 job and I must heed its beckoned call to me right now." Gulping down her drink, she set it down in the sink, grabbing her purse located just next to it. "You guys can lock up and I'll see y later."

"Oh, Zaru, before you forget, you have a meeting with Maddie's history teacher in the morning. Remember that." These days, Rose was more like a secretary for Zaru, always forgetting important dates and whatnot. But with the intelligence and knowledgeable Brit on her side, there was nothing she would miss.

"Yeah." Zaru smiled. "I got it, Rose. Thanks for reminding me."

With a small wave, the woman left the building leaving Jade and Rose behind to lock up for the night.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

She got home around midnight very tired. The red truck was pulled into the driveway before shutting the engine down. It had been a pretty long night and the dark clouds overhead were threatening with rain. Shaking her head, Zaru opened the heavy door of the vehicle and slammed it shut. Not even taking two steps away, she heard the sound of another car pulling into her driveway as well. Her head tilted to the side as she tried to decipher who in the world would come to her place that time of night.

Piper waved from the open window of the driver side before getting out, leaving the engine running.

"Hey, Zaru!" She smiled a little, her brown hair pulled into a messy bun in the back of her head.

The woman took notice of the girl's appearance. She was wearing pajamas and slippers covered her bare feet. "Hey, Piper. What are you doing here? And in your pajamas?"

"Well, I was at home finishing up a paper, but I thought I would take a break and come see some friends." She smiled a little.

"But why did you come here at this time of night? I could have been in bed for crying out loud!" Zaru laughed. "But I guess since I'm not and you're here, how about you come in for a little bit for a cup of coffee or tea?"

Piper shook her head. "Yeah that would be nice. I would really like that."

The two female headed inside the house after Piper turned her car off.

The small mahogany table in the kitchen surround by six chairs occupied Piper who was laying her head against it while watching her friend make some coffee.

"So, how is school going for you?"

A sigh escaped the younger woman. "It's okay. I mean, I applied to go to the community college just to keep going to school until I got accepted into the college of my choice, but it's really eating into my free time these days." Her lips pursed. "I hate not being able to do much during the day anymore."

The green-haired woman nodded as she poured the coffee into two brown mugs and moved over to the table, sitting opposite of Piper.

"Well, at least you're doing well." Zaru wrapped her hands around the warmed mug. "If I recall, you do enjoy school, although you didn't want anyone to know it." She took a sip. "You need school if you want to make your way in the world."

"Did you ever go to school, Zaru?" Piper didn't know everything about Zaru even though they've been friends for the past three years. Very little information was known about the girl before their friendship began. "I would guess you did since you own a club, right?"

Zaru rolled her eyes. "Yes, I did go to school. But it was only for a couple years for business. _Jii-san_ wanted me to learn something about business before he gave me official ownership of _Kunoichi._"

"But did you want to go? I mean, were you forced?" Piper took a small sip of her hot drink.

"No, Piper. I wasn't forced. Because of the fact that I wanted _Kunoichi_ so badly, I pushed myself to do whatever it took to get my dream." Her head tilted to the side. "To get something I want, I have to earn it. And that's why you-" She was cut short by the interruption of her cell phone ringing a country song. "Oh, hold on a sec." Zaru pulled a cell phone from her pants pocket and looked at the incoming call. It was Beth. "It's Beth."

"Well, answer it. The ringtone is annoying." Her nose cringed. Country music was not her kind of music. She leaned toward the softer side of music, mainly classical if possible.

Rolling her eyes, Zaru answered the phone. "Hello?" A moment's pause. "Uh, not tonight, Beth. I still gotta do a couple things around the house before heading to bed." An eyebrow raised. "No I haven't heard from dad yet. Why? Was he supposed to give you a ride home from work or something?" She bit her lower lip. "Then he should be there. He drives the black Cavalier. Yeah. Okay. Well, if he's not there, just give me a call back. I'm sure I can get a ride for ya. Bye." Flipping the phone shut, she threw it on the kitchen table. "Last thing I need is to go back out tonight to pick up someone from the hospital."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, Beth doesn't have her car today cause Mickie's using it. And my dad told her he would pick her up from work this evening, but he's a no-show. So, most likely, I'm gonna have to drag my tired ass back out and go get her."

Piper snickered. "Sucks to be you right now." She turned her body and tucked a foot underneath her leg. "I'd give her a ride, but I actually have to get back home to finish studying before my exam tomorrow." She stood up, stretching her body. "It's going to be a bitch for me to wake up at 6 in the morning to get to school."

"Then you shouldn't have stopped studying and come over for a chit-chat, Piper. Studying comes first." Zaru stood herself and gripped the back of the chair just vacated. "I put my studies first when I was in school." She shrugged. "And nowadays, I put my kids first, then work." She heard a bark in the next room and smiled. "And Darkness."

The bark got closer until a black and white huskey dog, that was almost to Zaru's hip, came out, ears perked at the current company at the home.

"Hey, buddy." Piper called and patted her lap to make the dog come close to her. "Come on, you big ass domesticated animal!" She laughed when the dog moved next to her and jumped to greet her, licking her face happily. "That's a good boy." She scratched behind his ears.

"Darkness, down!" Zaru shouted, pointing to the ground. "You know better than to jump on people like that."

Darkness whimpered a little before slowly moving back on all fours to the kitchen floor, padding his way over to his owner. He sat down next to her, looking up at her with a sad look in his green eyes.

"Zaru, that was mean." Her friend set her hands on her hips.

"Well, he's got to learn that he can't jump on people even if he knows them!" Zaru glanced down at her pet, petting him lightly on the head. "You don't jump on people, Darkness." She scolded. "By the way, how'd you get out of Maddie's room? Her door is always shut at night as soon as you get in there." She looked out of the corner of her eye wondering if the girls were still up. "Piper, you best get going if you need to finish studying. I need to make sure the girls are sleeping."

"Yeah. I know." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of car keys. "I'll see ya tomorrow night. I have no class so I can work."

"Sure thing, Piper. I'll see you later."

()()()()()()()()()

It was about a week later and the base was as quiet as usual. Wheeljack had just woken up from his recharge and was heading out to do a check-in with their human friends. He had not seen any one of them for the past couple of weeks and he was getting a little worried since none of them had tried to contact him or visit him. So, instead of just sitting around all day doing nothing but staring at a computer monitor or working on a new invention, he was bound to head out and see the city.

Making sure everything was put away in the lab, he headed toward the Security Room to check the monitors. Everything was normal. No Decepticons detected and not a single word back from Optimus Prime. The mech was told by the leader their group would be coming back to Earth in two Earth weeks to stay until the threat of Soundwave was eliminated. It had been a week since then. _Just one more week, Wheeljack, and your comrades will come on back home here._

Rechecking everything, he fixed the computer to notify him of any changes in the atmosphere while he was on the road.

"All right. That does it. Now it's time to visit a few close friends of ours." He chuckled a little. He really did miss seeing them and he hoped he would bring a smile to their faces once seen.

But lo and behold, just as he decides to leave, an alarm resounded throughout the entire base leaving him flabbergasted.

"What in the Pit is going on now?" Several screens popped up at once, all leading him to the conclusion the coordinates from the Space Bridge he and Skyfire created between Cybertron and Earth was activated. "Wait a second here!" A bunch of Cybertronian pixilated on a screen in front of him and he read it with a quick scan. "Well, I'll be." If he could truly smile, he would.

TBC…

A/n: A little quick on this chapter, ain't I? LOL! But I did hope you enjoyed it. Will update another chapter as soon as I can. J Dang I hate cliffhangers haha!

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	3. Chapter 3

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: *sigh* So many things going on… _ Sorry if it took a little bit longer than usual to get this chapter out. But hey, it's a pretty long chapter. I'm really surprised about that myself, really. J But hope you like it!

**Chapter 2**

Wheeljack ran out of the Security Room, hustling to the one room of the base that was restricted to the humans. It was where the Space Bridge was located, two large pillars hovering on two sides with an electric current flowing through them. The stunned mech stepped closer, advancing on the bridge before it fully came to life, throwing him back against the base wall.

"Oompf!" Wheeljack fell to the ground with a heavy thud, metal against metal echoing throughout the room. "Slag that hurt!" He pushed himself to one knee before shielding his eyes from a bright light filling up the entire room.

Within seconds, the base shook and he thrust himself back against the wall knowing it wasn't just any ordinary earthquake. It lasted a few moments until the illuminating light died down and the shaking ceased. Seemed like it was done, but he couldn't be off guard. There was a chance it could happen again since he and Skyfire barely worked the Space Bridge themselves.

Moving away from the base wall, Wheeljack's blue optics adjusted to see what was right in front of him.

"Wheeljack, old friend." He heard a voice call. "It is good to see you again."

He bowed down and stood back up, shaking the hand of the leader mech whom he admired. "Welcome back to Earth, Optimus."

The giant blue and red towering mech smiled. "Yes, Wheeljack. Thank you. We are glad to be home."

"Aery, you coming down for breakfast? I'm making French toast and eggs!" Zaru called upstairs to her daughter. "If you don't hurry, Maddie's gonna eat them all!"

A blur of blond and blue ran down the stairs quickly, huffing as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Mom, don't you dare give my share to Maddie! She eats like a pig!"

Maddie, in the middle of scarfing down her own plate stuck out her tongue. "I'm not the only one in this house that eats like a pig!"

Zaru sighed. "Yeah. You both eat like pigs, now stop it!" The green-haired club owner turned back to the lit gas stove and proceeded to cook up some more eggs French toast.

"Mom, Maddie's making funny faces at me!" Her youngest shouted. "Ew, Maddie! Don't open your mouth with food! You're gross!"

"Geez! You two are gonna drive me up the wall today, too, aren't you?" Zaru laughed until she heard a knock on the front door, Darkness beginning his barking. "Come in!" She called.

"Zaru?" It was her father.

"Hey, dad, we're in here!"

Arc Kiys closed the front door after two other people walked in behind him, the dog continuously standing in his way as made tried to make his way to the kitchen.

"Hey, pup, I think you need to calm down." The brown-haired man made his appearance into the archway of the kitchen and leaned against it. "I brought some company."

"Huh?" Zaru turned to see Leiana and Maggie standing behind him. "Oh, hi guys, long time no see." She turned off the stove and made her way to her friends, hugging each in turn. "How's it going? You guys look great!"

Maggie just smiled. She let her blonde hair grow out, reaching down her back to her butt, the curls hanging loosely behind her. Her outfits of knee skirts and blouses changed to that of jeans and tank tops which fit her rather nicely.

Leiana had certainly matured a lot. Her own hair was cut just below shoulder-length but worn in a bun at the back of her head. Although she was still into wearing her regular shorts and converse sneakers, she worked at the school wearing dress pants and pretty shirts.

Maggie sighed. "It's been all right, Zaru. Been nothing but boring really. And having been living away from the base for awhile is even more boring." The Australian woman had taken it upon herself to find an apartment away from the base so she could live normally, only going back every now and then to check up on everything else. But living her life the way she did, it wasn't as thrilling as she thought it would be.

"Hey, you wanted to get a place away from there so things can be called normal, right?"

Leiana set a hand on her friend's shoulder. "How have things been for you? Working hard or hardly working?"

"Hardly working." The green haired woman grinned. "I find not working hard enough is more relaxing than working hard." They both laughed. "Anyways, don't you have a class to aide today at the high school?"

"That's why I came actually. I thought I could give the girls a ride to school if they needed one since I'm heading that way anyways."

Leiana had taken it upon herself to stay in college, going for a minor degree in Liberal Arts, but wishes to take a major in Psychology. And being around students helped her study the behavior involving teenagers of every kind.

"That's okay. You can take them if you want. I've just about had it with them today anyways." The young mother shook her head. "I tell ya, it's not easy to raise teenagers."

The matured Latina raised an eyebrow. "Who has _never_ said that same thing, Zaru?"

Arc pulled himself away from the women's conversation and headed over to the table to see his granddaughters. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, you two are giving your mom a hard time, huh?" He embraced each girl and gave them a small kiss on top of the head.

"No, grandpa, we haven't." Maddie replied innocently, putting her hands together like she was praying. "Can't you see my halo?"

"Very funny, Maddie." He pretended to put her in a choke hold.

"Ah!" She laughed and tried to get away. "Ah! Grandpa!"

"Feel my wrath, o little one!" He growled and picked her up out of the chair, swinging her around a few times before setting Maddie back onto her feet.

"Daddy!" Zaru scolded. "And it's only 7 in the morning."

"Shithead! Sqwak!" A very weird voice came from close by.

"Huh?" Arc looked around not seeing anyone near him. "Who was that?"

"Arc is balding! Sqwak!"

His left eye twitched. _That damn bird!_ "You friggin' bird! Where the hell are ya?" The older man released Maddie and looked high until his eyes settled downward onto Aery's shoulder. "Damn I hate you."

Aery smiled. "Oh, grandpa, Crescent's just being funny." The blonde-haired teen stood up and walked over to a cupboard pulling out a couple crackers. "Are you hungry, Crescent?"

"Sqwak! Hungry, yes! Sqwak!"

"Here." His owner handed him a cracker which he happily ate on her shoulder, small crumbs falling to the floor.

"Aery, set Crescent on the table when he's eating crackers, please. I'm tired of cleaning up his food mess off my floors."

"Sorry, mom. Here you go, buddy." She plucked the Green Winged Macaw from her shoulder and set him down on the wooden table. "Eat as much as you want now."

When everything was calmed down, Zaru moved with Maggie and Leiana into the living room.

()()()()()()()()

"Optimus, it is so wonderful to see you back here again." Wheeljack stated with a mental smile.

"Thank you. We are glad to be back here on Earth, Wheeljack. Although, I do wonder if you have told our human friends about our coming arrival."

"No, sir. I did not think it was best to mention it, just in case you had a change of plans. I did not wish to get their hopes up of your return."

That was true. If, in fact, the mech had told their human allies, it would be a burst of tears and anxiety awaiting their return. But if something happened and their coming home was a fraud, who knew what would happen. There would be anger and blame. Mostly directed toward him. And Wheeljack did not wish to be on the wrath of the human women.

But aside from that, the humans would become overjoyed he hoped in learning that their friends and spark mates have returned once more.

"Do not tell them we have returned yet, Wheeljack." Skyfire stated. "I wish to reveal myself to Jade when the appropriate time comes for it."

"Why do that when you can see them now?"

Blurr stepped forward along with Mirage. "We have reason to believe they might be in danger once again. And if we can deplete this danger when it comes without them knowing, I think it'll be all right to show them we are here."

"What danger do you speak of? There has been no trace of Decepticon activity on earth for the past three earth years, Blurr." Wheeljack stated. "Unless they have found a way to keep themselves off of our radar."

"Perhaps. But we know for a fact that Soundwave, who is now leading the Decepticons, will be making his appearance on Earth."

"For what reason? There is nothing here for them."

There was no reason for Soundwave to return. If in fact, there had to be some kind of reason, it would have to be revenge against Starscream and Shockwave for betraying them, wouldn't it? He would be after the former Decepticon leader and scientist. Not the humans of Earth. Unless he planned on using the humans somehow to bring them out of hiding.

"Revenge against Starscream would be his ultimatum, I believe." Mirage put in his two cents. "But to get the best against him, how do you think he would do that?"

This made Wheeljack think. What on this Earth could possibly make Starscream so angry enough that he would come out into the open to exact his traitorous revenge? He vented air. He couldn't think straight.

"There is nothing here that Starscream cares for."

Starscream made his way from behind the group, his red optics furious. "What is wrong with that fragging head of yours, Autoscum? Soundwave wishes to attempt to terminate my spark mate!" His crimson optics furrowed. "And I will not allow him to touch her! She is mine and will continue to be mine! I will not let that slagging heap of scrap have his dirty hands on her!" His spark pulsated. He gasped a little. It had not done that for awhile.

Back on Cybertron, it had stopped hurting him while he was far away from Erin. But now, back on Earth, he can feel it once more and she was close by. How he wished he could see that human of his at least once while he was there. But with he and Shockwave still under watch, he couldn't have alone time with her for fear he might decide to run off and do something stupid.

"Starscream, calm down." Optimus faced him. "We will not let anything happen to Erin. She will be fine as long as she is kept under constant vigil."

The copper-rusted mech sighed. "How is she?" He asked, whispering.

Wheeljack stepped toward Starscream, setting a hand on his shoulder. "She is well. Working hard and continues thinking about you."

That brought a small smile to his face.

()()()()()()()()

A couple days later…

"Rihito, no! No trying to eat the bird! Bad kitty!" Maddie plucked the orange colored Savannah cat from on top of the fridge where the genius bird Crescent swayed back and forth happily.

"Bad kitty! Sqwak!"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Don't you ever shut up?"

"Sqwak! Shut up!"

"Aery, come get your annoying bird before I let Rihito eat him!"

"Annoying Maddie! Sqwak!"

"Yes you are annoying me, you stupid flying thing!" She growled and walked out of the room, her cat jumping out of her arms as she passed through the door. "Come on, Rihito!" She slapped her leg and the cat followed. He never left her side for more than a moment while in the house unless it was chasing after Aery's pet.

Maddie smiled when she sat down and Rihito jumped into her arms. "Geez. I hope you don't get any bigger than this. You already weigh a ton." She petted the lean animal, its toes curling in bliss. Rihito had been a gift from her great-grandfather when she first came home to Zaru's. It was also around the same time her mom brought Darkness and Crescent home from the animal shelter so Aery would have a pet to call her own. She smiled happily. "I know you'll never leave my side, right?" Rihito purred and buried his head under chin. "Good boy."

()()()()()()

"Aery, have you seen my boots?" Zaru called downstairs as Aery bounded down the stairs heading toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom, they're under your bed where you put them last!" She stopped in mid step before she heard a cheer from Zaru upstairs. "You're welcome."

A few minutes later, the woman came down the stairs two at a time. "What do you girls think?" She twirled around, her dress flowing freely around her. "Is this kind of thing me?"

Maddie set her back down on the coffee table before standing up. "Wow, mom, you look great! What's the occasion?"

"It's the nine-year anniversary of when _Kunoichi_ was first opened. We're gonna have a nice club opening tonight, so I thought I would dress for the occasion." She twirled around once more, the light blue dress brightening under the chandelier lights.

"It does look nice, mom, although you didn't tie the string to hold your dress up tight enough." Aery laughed, Crescent mimicking her.

"Well, I can't tie well behind, thanks. You tighten it for me." She turned around, so Aery could retie it for her.

"Crazy girl."

As Aery was tying it, Zaru looked out the bay window of her home only to see a familiar vehicle parked across the street. She rubbed her eyes knowing she was seeing things which she probably was, cause the car was gone from view. _Mirage… _She walked closer to the window to make sure the car really wasn't there.

"Mirage?" She whispered.

"What mirage?" Aery asked as she finished tying her mom's dress. "All done."

"Huh?" The woman turned around and rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, um, am I a mirage or what?"

"Yeah. You sure are an illusion to men, mom. You're really pretty tonight." Maddie agreed.

_Illusion…_ Zaru smiled. _I'm definitely seeing things._ "Thanks, honey. And now, if you two will excuse me, I must make haste." Walking to the door, her heels clomping lightly on the hardwood floor, she grabbed her purse and keys. "Ah, shit! My cigarettes!"

"I'll get them!" Aery ran upstairs. "In your room right?"

"Yeah on my dresser! Hurry!"

Aery stopped in front of her mother's door and opened it. She had never been in her mom's room much, only a few times. Glancing around, she searched for the dresser which was on the far wall across from her mother's king bed that was filled with an array of blues and greens. _A little more color could be used in here._ She smiled a little before walking the rest of the way in, only to almost trip over a box sneaking out from under the bed.

"Geez, mom. Learn how to put your things away properly." She reached down picking it up on its side and letting the contents fall to the floor. "Darn it." She cursed and leaned down to pick it up, only to stop when she picked up a couple of pictures of her mom and some strange man. Shrugging she turned it over to see who it was. On the back it read _Mirage and Zaru._

"Mirage? Isn't that a name she said earlier?"

Rifling through a few of the pictures and papers, she came across another picture, but this one was of something different. _What the f-_

"Aery! Why are you taking so long?"

"Ooops!" She quickly stuffed everything back into the box and shoved it under the bed, running to grab her mom's cigarettes and back out the door. _Mom, what are you hiding?_

()()()()()()

He had to get away from everyone, even for just a little bit. Unfortunately, with them having to remain secret, they couldn't wander around much, even in their alt modes. But he didn't care. His spark began aching and it was about time he went to see her, even if she couldn't allow her to see him.

He parked himself in front of her home, hoping to catch just a glimpse of her. And he did. She was even more beautiful than he last saw her with that dress she wore bearing the same color of his optics. He mentally sighed. How he wished to hold her close right now, his spark wishing for the same thing.

Mirage kept watching her, but who in the world were those two others in her home? Did they belong to her? Had she settled down with a human male. His hearing censors cornered in on the voices inside hearing one of those human females call his spark mate 'Mom'. She moved on to a human leaving him behind. He was very saddened by this turn of events, but he told her himself that she should move on with her life cause he never knew when and if they would meet again.

Full of sadness, the mech pulled away from the house not realizing that she had seen him with her own two eyes.

()()()()()()()

Zaru left the two twin teenagers alone in the house and drove away in her truck, beeping the horn upon exit. Aery and Maddie waved from the front doorway until she was out of sight. Leaning out to see the truck backlights out of view, Aery dragged her sister back inside the house and slammed the door shut.

"Geez, Aery, what's the matter with you all of a sudden? Why'd you pull me like that?" Maddie held her upper arm where Aery had a tight grip.

"You ever notice how strange mom always acts?"

Maddie folded her arms across her chest. "What the hell are you talking about? She's been acting like that since we first came here. I always thought it was normal for her."

Aery licked her lips. "But I don't think it's normal for her. I don't believe that she cries on occasion out of habit. There's something wrong and we need to know what."

"Huh?"

"I found something of mom's in her room. It's totally weird! You have to see it!"

"going through mom's things? You're gonna get yourself into trouble, Aery. And I always though I was the trouble child."

"Errgh! Let me show you!" Grabbing a hold of her twin, the two ran up the stairs, only to forget to lock the door behind them.

()()()()()()()

Everything was very calm at _Kunoichi._ The music was mellow, couples slow dancing together to the serene music. The usually fast moving dance lights were dimmed and changed colors very slowly in timing with the sweet sounds. Same went for the dance floor. It was filled with couples of every sort, young, old and sometimes mixed and matched.

She smiled happily from her place on the second floor in the VIP area where she and her friends were talking and toasting the anniversary of their club. Rose was dressed up in a nice fishnet mini dress covering a black miniskirt and halter. Her red hair was pulled up messily and her long, sleek legs were covered over the knee with heavy black boots.

"Pretty good turnout, wouldn't you agree, love?" Rose's pale face turned to face Erin Timmons who somehow turned up next to her without being seen.

The strawberry blonde smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty good. Although, I think we're the only ones here who has no one to dance with." She sighed a little, setting her chin on top of her fist.

Rose smiled small, trying to comfort the meek woman with a pat on the back. "There, there. It doesn't mean we still can't have some fun on this anniversary of ours, yeah?"

"Yeah, Rose. You're right. It's a good night and we need to have some fun times."

"Indeed we do, mate!"

"Yes, Rose. Indeed." An old man walked up behind the two woman setting hands on their shoulders. "Would one of you like to dance with this old man?"

Rose's smile widened. "I would be honored to dance with this old man in front of me."

"So would I." Erin answered.

"Wait your turn, love." Rose locked her arm around Sakauchi's and the two headed to the small area of the VIP for dancing.

"If you are desperate, Erin, would you like to dance with me?" Arc came forward and stood next to her. "I find myself unable to be at this place and not have a companion to dance with."

"Pfft. I figured you would have women lining up to dance with you." It was true that Arc was still a very handsome man even though he was in his mid-40s.

He shrugged. "Maybe they find me too attractive to approach me." She noticed a smug look on his face.

"I doubt that's it, Mr. Kiys."

"Well, either way, will you dance with me? Help me feel young again?"

How could she say no to that? "Sure, why not." He held out a big hand, and her small one covered it.

To some, it may seem the two had some attraction toward one another, but no. It was more like a familial dance between a father and daughter. Just as Sakauchi deemed all the girls grandchildren, Arc treated most of them like he was their father.

The two headed to where Rose and Sakauchi were and began talking up a storm while dancing a little.

Zaru watched all of her friends having a good time drinking and dancing. Jade wasn't singing tonight so she was able to hang out with them all. Leiana didn't have a night off, but she was able to spend most of the time in the VIP area since she was shift manager. Piper was working as a waitress this evening, but her breaks were spent with her friends as well, drinks in between work. Rose and Zaru were working, but they were doing what they usually did, sitting and watching everything going on within the club.

But Zaru was feeling a little unsettled. Something didn't feel right. Ever since she thought she saw Mirage earlier on her street, it's been eating away in her head. Could it be possible he was back, but he didn't want her to see him?

"Rose." She called to her friend still dancing with her grandfather. "Rose!" She tried again.

"Huh? What's wrong, love?" She turned away from Sakauchi, eying her friend worriedly. "What's the matter?"

"Um, I think I'm gonna head out early. I'm not feeling too good."

The 28-year-old set a manicured hand on her friend's forehead. "You are burning up a little, mate. Want me to drive you home?"

"Uh no. No." Zaru smiled and clasped Rose's hand with hers, removing it from her forehead. "I'll be all right. It's not like I can't drive properly."

"Well, drive home safe. And call me once you get home so I know you'll be all right, yeah?"

"Mm-hmm." She hugged her friend tightly before hugging her father and grandfather. "I'll see you guys another time."

"I'll be by tomorrow, Zaru, to take the girls out for breakfast. I promised them last week I would take them on Saturday." Sakauchi held her chin in his hand. "You be well, _kochou._"

She let a small smile on her worried face. "Yeah. I will, _jii-san._" With a small nod, she made her way from the club, pulling her hand away from Rose. "See ya."

()()()()()()()

She came home to an unlocked front door. _Weird._ She hoped nothing happened in the few hours she had been gone. With the door being open, there was some chance anyone could walk into her home. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for her being unsettled. Gulping a little, the woman made her way inside the house, door creaking open and closing as soon as she walked inside.

"Aery? Maddie?" Zaru called to her children. "Girls?" The woman set her purse and keys on the small table near the doorway. "Hello?" _I guess they went to bed early._ Walking the rest of the way in, she noticed a bunch of photos and papers strewn all over the coffee table, two sets of hands going through them. "Girls, what are you doing? What is all that?"

"What are _you_ doing?"

"I'm home from work. Why do you have all this all over the place? What are you staring at anyways?" Making her way over, she sat on the couch next to Maddie and picked up a picture from the pile. "Are these you guys from your childhood?" She smiled a little before realizing what she was looking at. _It's a picture of Mirage's holoform. _"How did you get all these?" Zaru picked up another picture. "How did you find them?"

"When I went upstairs in your room earlier, I tripped over the box on the floor. When I picked it up, all this fell out." Aery confessed. "Mom, is this guy the reason why you are so bummed out all the time?"

_At least they haven't found the pictures of him in robot form. That would be very hard to explain. _"Yeah. That's the guy."

"What happened between you two that could make you so depressed all these years?"

Zaru plucked the picture from Aery's hand which showed her and Mirage standing together. "Well, I don't know really. I guess it's more likely because we had to be torn apart from each other. He was forced to return home and I had too many reasons to stay here."

"But how could you let him leave you? Didn't you love him enough to want him to stay here?" Aery bore sadness in her eyes looking at her adopted mother. "Or did you not love him enough?"

The club owner threw the picture on the table. "Honey, I loved him very much. We just couldn't be together anymore. That's all." Standing up, she started gathering all the objects on the table together. "Now that you know, I would appreciate it if you would stay out of my things."

Her patience of speaking with Zaru was very low. She wanted to hear the entire story behind her mom's reasoning, but she wasn't able to get it. Not until she was shown the one picture that could make her reveal everything.

"Mom, you aren't telling us the entire truth." Maddie stood up.

"What do you mean? I told you why I cry all the time. Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"

The oldest twin threw the only picture she held on the table. It was a picture of Zaru, Rose and Maggie sitting on the shoulders of what appeared to be the Autobots. "Why don't you explain that? If you can that is."

Zaru's eyes widened. _Where did that picture come from? I don't remember putting that in the box with the others. _"Where did you get this?"

"It was in the box with the others."

_Maybe I did put it in there on accident._ "No." How could explain anything like that to the girls? Would they understand the situation she and her friends put themselves in the middle of? "I can't believe it. How could I make such a stupid mistake of putting it where it could be found?" The upset woman plopped back down on the couch, hands covering her face. "How could you go through my things like this anyways? Don't you know how private things are?"

"We're sorry, mom, but it's just that -"

"No!" She interrupted Aery. "I can't tell you how upset I am at the two of you right now! Going through other people's things when you know they're private! Ugh I just…" Her words trailed off. "I'm sorry, but you had no right to enter my privacy."

Maddie moved to sit in the reclining chair near the couch. "Were you ever going to tell us about this? Ever?"

That was a question she pondered herself. Would she have told the girls at all? Maybe if the Autobots did come back to Earth, there was a chance they would find out. But telling them would put them in danger. And she would not allow that to happen. If a snippet of what she explained to the twins leaked out, who knows what dangers lay ahead for all of them.

"If I say anything, I don't know how much danger you could be put in. Especially with Decepticons still out there."

Aery looked at her mother, taking her hand in her own two. "We're family, aren't we? No secrets, right? Isn't that what you told us before?"

"Mom, you have to tell us what is going on. We're not little kids anymore."

Maybe they were right. They were family and no secrets were allowed between them. By telling them everything she knew, it would be hard to take it all back. No. It was just too dangerous to say anything. Her head shook. "Aery, I'm sorry. I can't tell you right now."

"Don't you trust us, mom?"

Trust. Did she trust them? Of course she trusted them. If she didn't, there would be close eyes on them 24/7. They wouldn't be allowed out of the house except for school. Trust. How could she ask her that?

"Of course I trust you, Maddie. But I don't know if this is the right time to explain it all."

"Maybe it is the right time if we found that."

Her daughter was right. The trust she built with them over the years they've been living with her never wavered. So, if she did trust them that much, perhaps it was okay to say a small thing. The burden of carrying such a secret was weighing her down, it felt like a boulder was there half the time. Perchance it was about time she divulged a little information to her daughters. After all, they were family and she trusted them immensely.

"Where do I start?" Zaru gave in.

"From the beginning."

()()()()()()()()

After a frantic call from Zaru after midnight, Zaru's friends immediately dropped everything they were doing, even work, and made their way, reuniting at the home of their boss and friend. Each one had no idea what had happened that could make her so upset. It must have been something awful if she was calling them out in the middle of the night like she was.

It was around one when everybody finally arrived, the kitchen table full of the friends. Zaru was putting on a fresh pot of coffee, mugs of it spread around to all of them. The night was rather cold and it was nice to have a steaming cup of hot goodness to warm their hands.

"Zaru, did you think it was wise to tell them everything? Now of all times?" Piper sipped her coffee.

"No, I don't." She had changed out of her dress to the comfort of khaki pants and a short sleeve t-shirt. Her feet were bare and cold against the tile floor. "Telling them wasn't what I wanted, okay."

"Well, what exactly did you say to them?" Jade hoped she didn't say more than she had to. Just a short part of it should have suited their needs she hoped.

Grasping the handle of the coffee mug, she turned around, leaning against the counter. "I told them the story of how Mirage and I met. That's all." Zaru shook her head. "What surprised me the most was the fact they actually went into my room and took out my stuff to glance at. I would never expect them to betray my trust like that."

"Then you should have hidden your stuff better, Zaru, instead of leaving it around for prying eyes to see." Leiana scolded her friend. "You know better than that."

Zaru nodded. "When you have kids, Lala, privacy doesn't have a meaning anymore. My family means no secrets and I kept this secret from my kids for three years now. Possibly something was telling me to spill the beans." She spilled her coffee in the sink. "I don't know anymore. I mean, it was just so quick they ganged up on me practically demanding to know what I was hiding from them."

Maggie smiled. "Well, I for one, think you did the right thing. If they were to catch you in some kind of lie, they might never trust your words again." She was dressed in comfortable pajamas with slippers to match the red outfit.

"I think it's right what you did, too, hon. If you can't trust family, who else can you trust?" Beth sipped her own coffee. "Besides, it was gonna happen one day, why not get it done sooner rather than later?"

"I would rather have waited until later."

Just then, they heard a knock. "Hey, is this a private party or can anyone join?" A very familiar, yet annoying voice came from the back door that opened quickly.

She stood there in her usual attire of baggy pants, white tank and army boots, her black hair flowing behind her. A cup of coffee from 24 hour Starbucks was held in her hand while the other held onto an Ipod.

"Kia Hawkins." Zaru glared at her. "What are you doing here? I don't believe I called you to join us."

Maggie walked over to Zaru nervously. "I invited her. I figured you wouldn't mind an extra opinion."

"Her opinions mean shit to me, Maggie. You know that."

Kia snorted. "After three years, you haven't matured a bit, Zaru."

"After three years, you're still a pain in my ass, Kia." Zaru growled. "Anyways, don't you know how to knock? On the front door?"

"Like you would have answered it."

A smirk appeared on her face. "Not likely, no."

"Can you at least cease your slight squabble for just a moment to focus?" Rose stood up. "We need to figure out what you want to do, Zaru. Since you already told them part of the story about you and Mirage, I'm hoping some light can be shed on this situation."

"What's do we do about it, Rose?" Erin asked. She was sitting at the end of the table just listening to everybody. "Bringing them into the circle of knowing about the Autobots can put them in danger if the Decepticons knew they were one of us."

"Well, honestly, we need to do the right thing."

"What's that?"

"Let them meet the real thing."

"You mean-"

"Wheeljack."

All Zaru did, was nod.

TBC…

A/n: Wow, what a long chapter. I certainly enjoyed writing it! Hope you'll look out for the next chapter coming in as well.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	4. Chapter 4

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: *sigh* AHH! I finally got another update! Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

The very next day, Zaru called her grandfather and explained to him the situation that had befallen her just last night. To say he was surprised that the girls knew about it would be a lie. Sakauchi figured one way or another, they would find out the truth within the family so it wasn't too surprising.

"_Jii-san, _it will be all right, won't it? Am I doing the right thing by taking them to see Wheeljack?" Zaru was very worried. Once they met an Autobot, they would become obsessed with seeing him she was certain.

"Yes, Zaru. Of course it is all right. There's nothing wrong with showing the girls who you are friends with. Besides, I think Wheeljack would like to know a couple of fresh faces. After all, I don't believe you have seen him for quite some time now." Sakauchi smiled over the phone. "You'll be fine."

Zaru nodded as she sat down on the gray living room couch. Her green hair was unkempt, hanging loose and disheveled down her back. She had tossed and turned in her bed for the few hours she was able to get some sleep and had awakened very early before the sunrise.

"I'm sorry that you won't be able to take the girls to breakfast like you promised them, _Jii-san_."

"There's always gonna be other days I can take them somewhere. But there won't be another day that will excite them more than this one."

The tired woman nodded into the phone. "Yeah. Um, sorry that I called you this early in the morning just for this."

She heard him laugh on the other end. "It's fine. I've been up since very early this morning."

"I guess we'll stop by a little later and we can go out to lunch. My treat."

"It's a date."

()()()()()

She spent a few more minutes talking with her grandfather on the phone before hanging it up, setting it down on its cradle which was set on the table between the chair and couch. Her knees bent straight up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. The cool draft coming from the bay window behind her made her shiver a little. Zaru's blue eyes gazed out the open window seeing the sun begin to rise over the forest area behind her neighbor's house. _I guess _Jii-san's_ right. Maybe this will be okay._

Groaning a little, she stood up stretching and headed toward the stairs to take a shower. She wanted to be done and ready before the girls got up so they didn't argue about bathroom use. Zaru always hated when the twins would argue about who got the bathroom first in the morning. Understandably, they were girls thus would be at each other's throat for first use of the room in the morning time.

It was about a half an hour later that Zaru finally appeared once more. She made a quick run in the shower before hurrying to get dressed. Nothing special she wore, just the usual jeans and t-shirt. Her feet were bare and cold against the hardwood floor of the living room as she towel dried her green hair. The hair dryer would have been too noisy for her to use. The girls would have been angry if they had to get up that early in the morning because of such noise. To say Zaru was being polite in not making noise would be dishonest. She just couldn't stand the teenagers waking up early in the morning moaning about how noisy it was.

Smiling a little, she threw the damp towel on the back of a chair and reached down to the table to grab a hairbrush. She brushed her hair thoroughly before she felt it was right enough to put up in its ponytail. Now, all that was left was to make her morning coffee and listen for the girls to awaken.

It was about eight when Aery and Maddie walked down the stairs, both their blonde hair disheveled. They paused a moment to look at each other. None of them could smell their morning breakfast. Was their mother not up yet to fix it for them? Maddie grumbled as she headed toward the kitchen, her younger twin sister right behind her. There, seated with one foot propped on a chair's edge, other on the floor, was Zaru. She was sipping coffee while another hand rested and petted Darkness' head.

"Morning, mom." Aery smiled a little before sitting down. "No breakfast?"

Zaru set the mug down on the table before looking over at t he twins and smiling. "Ah, no. Not this morning. We have somewhere important to go this morning, so I figured we'd just grab something on the way there."

"Wait a minute." Maddie grabbed the back of Aery's chair. "Wasn't _Jii-san_ going to take us to breakfast this morning? I almost forgot."

Zaru shook her head and took a sip of coffee. "No. I told him that today wasn't a good day since it's really important I take you somewhere. We're going to have lunch with him this afternoon."

"Where are we going that's so important?"

"The Autobot base. Rose and Jade will be coming as well since they're not working today."

Aery's eyes widened. "The Autobot base? There's a base?"

"Yeah. Located a little outside of Tranquility. You'll get to meet Wheeljack."

"Wheeljack? Who's he?" Maddie questioned. "A robot?"

The young woman nodded. "Yeah. He's one of the Autobots. The only one who stayed behind on Earth to watch over the base." She smiled a little. "And to watch over us, too."

"What's he like?" Aery was very interested in this Wheeljack guy now. "Is he really smart?" Aery really liked smart people. "What does he do for the group?"

Zaru laughed a little. "He's an inventor. Plus, he's pretty damn good at fighting as well."

"Oh. So, when are we leaving?" Maddie finally asked.

"As soon as you two are showered and dressed. We'll get breakfast on the way."

"Okay." Both girls were out of the kitchen very quickly, and the argument started about who would get use of the bathroom first. It was then Zaru felt the daily morning headache come on.

It was almost an hour later when the girls reappeared downstairs all fresh and rejuvenated. They were going to meet somebody very fantastic in their mother's life and it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them. The girls were ecstatic at the events which were ready to take place.

All three females piled up into red truck, the girls sitting in the backseat of the cab while their mother drive brought the engine to life and drove out of the driveway. There were barely any other vehicles on the road, so Zaru drove above the speed limit and stopped in the drive thru of the one of the local fast food restaurants.

"Wow, mom, you rarely take us to eat at these places."

"That's cause the food isn't that good for you." Zaru waited to pull up to the order machine, one arm resting on the steering wheel, the other holding a cigarette out of the window. "But today is special, so I figured you guys can get whatever you'd like."

"Yes!" Both of them loved fast food even though their mother never really wanted them to eat it. It was pretty much a rare treat.

They finally got to their ordering and left the restaurant, the two girls happily eating their finger-food breakfast while chatting up a storm with one another. The drive to the Autobot base took at least twenty minutes and when the secret way finally came into view, she was relieved. Parking the truck, she shut off the engine and motioned for the girls to come on. Both were now a little nervous. It was a very secluded area their mother had taken them to, not anywhere they had ever been before.

"It's right this way. Come on." Taking a drag off her lit cigarette, she studied a part of the huge rock that stood in front of her. "Now, where was that thing again?" She mumbled before she reached out a hand to press against a small rock. It brightened when she touched it, a heavy rumbling sound beginning.

She stood back and heard the twins gasp at what was happening. The rock was splitting itself in half to reveal tall, metal doors. Grinning, Zaru walked over to a small panel hidden on the other side of it waiting for a scan.

'_Scanning… Human ally Zaru Kiys. Please punch in Access Code now.'_

A small keypad flipped open and she pressed several buttons before it flipped back shut.

'_Access granted.'_

The metal doors opened at a slow rate making Zaru herself become nervous. She had not seen Wheeljack in a long time and wondered if it wasn't a good idea to show up uninvited.

"Mom, what's happening?" Maddie grabbed onto her mother's arm.

"The base door is opening. Calm down." She patted her daughter's arm. "It'll be all right. I'm a little nervous myself since I haven't been here in so long. So, I guess we're on the same level of nervousness right now." "Grinning, she happily stepped foot for the first time in a long time inside the base.

The small alarm went off in Wheeljack's area of the base. He looked up at a monitor. _Who would be coming here now?_ Reaching out, the huge mech's fingers swiftly typed on a holographic keyboard brining up the entrance to the base. He ventilated air.

"Zaru… and two others?" His blue optics flashed a little. "Who is she bringing here?"

The doors hissed open to Wheeljack's station revealing Mirage and Optimus.

"Wheeljack, what's wrong? What is that alarm for? Decepticons?" Mirage asked walking over to him.

Wheeljack shook his head. "No, Mirage. It's the alarm for the base entrance. We have company."

"Who is it?" The blue mech asked while looking at the screen. On it, he made out the most beautiful face he could remember in his memory banks. "Zaru." He whispered and smiled a little. She was still as gorgeous as ever. His spark mate. And seeing her again was making his spark ache for her touch. "Wheeljack, she can't know we're here yet." He stated, turning to his friend. "Optimus, we must make haste and hide away in another part of the base right now before she spots us here."

Optimus nodded. "Indeed." He agreed.

Wheeljack grumbled a little. "Optimus, I think this hiding in plain sight is wrong. Especially for the spark mates. They deserve to know that their loved ones are here. Don't you agree with that?"

The leader lowered his head. He did wish to see Bethany again. Although she wasn't his spark mate yet, he had wanted to see those blue eyes of hers melting into his own. Perhaps Wheeljack was right. They should reveal themselves to the girls again. But was now even the right time? "We will reveal ourselves, but not right now. We'll let them know we're back shortly. As long as Wheeljack can get all of our human allies together that is when the time is right." He looked wonderingly at the inventor.

"Yes." His lights flashed on the sides of his head. "Yes. I will make sure to speak to each of them and get them together."

"Good. For now, I will alert the others to Zaru's arrival and we'll hide out in the other wing of the base. Mirage." Both of them headed out of the room, the doors hissing shut tightly behind them.

Mirage walked down the hall, several feet from his boss. He was in such deep thought now. Sure he had made an error by going to sneak a peek at his mate the other night, but seeing her on the monitor in the same area as he was only made it harder for him not to see her. If only he could run up to her that moment, scoop her into his hands and never let go ever again.

"Optimus."

"Yes, Mirage?"

"I know that you will have us reveal our whereabouts to the humans soon, but I can't take this torture any longer." He whispered. "It's maddening."

Optimus stopped in his tracks, turning to rest a hand on the spy's shoulder. "I know how hard it must be for you not to go see her yourself right now, but we have to make certain they are not in any danger. That is why we came back secretly to make sure that they were safe. Especially Erin since she is Starscream's spark mate." He smiled. "Very soon you will be able to hug her. I promise."

He always believed in Optimus' words and agreed. Soon, very soon, they would see one another. Even if she had a new family of her own.

TBC…

A/n: Okay, such a short chapter but I hope you enjoyed. At least it's an update of some sort for the story, correct? Look out for the new chapter hopefully coming out soon.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	5. Chapter 5

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: *sigh* AHH! I finally got another update! Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

Wheeljack kept watching the monitor as Zaru and her daughters made their way closer to the security room. It was only a moment before the double doors would open to reveal their presence to him. He was kind of happy that she had decided to come and see him. It had been so long since of the humans had been around him, not having contact with them personally made him feel uneasy. All of them had been allies for a few years, so why did everything change so suddenly. The visits over the past few years had been less and less, but he knew each one of their allies had lives of their own. That's why Wheeljack never considered visiting them himself. He figured he would get in their way somehow and it made him depressed.

But now, as he smiled inwardly, the mech could tell that, now the others were back, the base could become lively again with the chatter of the organics. Without notice, the security doors opened and the three humans appeared.

"Whoa!" He heard a voice not familiar.

Turning, Wheeljack greeted them. "Zaru, you're here." The lights on the sides of his head flashed with his words. "I am glad to see you again, my friend."

The green-haired woman grinned. Her legs moved of their own accord, running into the leg of her friend and hugging. "I'm glad to see you, too, Wheeljack. It really has been a long time."

He gently patted her back with his metal hand, and stared with blue optics at the two new faces before them. "Who are they?"

Her own blue eyes opened in shock. That's right! She never did show pictures of the girls to him, had she? Or mentioned one word about them to him either. Her life had been so hectic since the day the group left she completely forgot to mention such an important thing to him. It made her feel kind of guilty.

"Wheeljack, I'm sorry I didn't contact you ahead of time. If I did, this wouldn't have been really surprising for you." Flushed, she moved away from him and introduced their guests. "Wheeljack, meet my adopted twin daughters Aery and Maddie."

"Adopted?"

"Yeah. I actually took them into my care a short while after everybody else left to go back to Cybertron." Sweatdropping, she continued, "I'm sorry I never told you. It's been almost a few years now."

He nodded. "I understand. You humans have your own lives to worry about. It's not a shock you have never mentioned anything to me." Wheeljack kneeled down on one knee, metal clanging against the base floor. "So, may I ask why the sudden visit this morning?"

"Sudden?" She blinked. "Oh yeah, it is sudden, isn't it?" She laughed nervously. "Um, actually, our secret was exposed due to two snooping children of mine."

"How exposed? How many others know about us?" He was worried now.

"Just the two girls standing in front of you. I had no choice but to bring them here to meet you, Wheeljack. It was necessary. I had to prove to them, in a way, that I wasn't some sort of nut or something."

"Mom, this is so cool!" Aery, the oldest twin smiled wide. It was so exciting for her to be in such an environment. Who would have thought she would have the chance to be in some place made from aliens from outer space. Everything took her breath away. "Wow, I just love everything in here! So high tech!"

Wheeljack stood straight, making his way over to the two humans. "I am glad you like it." He peered down at the twins. "My name is Wheeljack. I am in charge of the Autobot Base. It is a pleasure to meet you, twin organics.'

Aery brushed several strands of blonde hair behind her ear, blushing a little. "I'm Aery. It's nice to meet you, too, Wheeljack."

"And I'm Maddie. It is kinda cool to meet someone like you." Maddie smiled warmly at him.

The giant alien robot nodded his head in turn. "Well, since you are here, would you like a small tour of the base? I'm sure you would enjoy it."

Aery's blue eyes widened. "Really? That would be so cool!" Her hands clasped in front of her happily as a grin appeared.

_Hmm. What a pleasant human. Very interesting personality as well. _"Well then, please come along. There's much to see."

Wheeljack made sure he didn't go near the area of the base where Optimus and the others were hiding out. If he did, he was worried one of the humans might wander off, be curious and find them all. So, he took no chance of that part of the base. They wouldn't know he was hiding something since it was the girls' first time there and had no idea how big the base was.

"You know, Wheeljack, I've never seen something amazing as this in my life." The oldest blonde twin said as she walked next to the giant mech. "It's very high-tech."

"Indeed it is, Aery. This is a small replica base of one we have back on our home planet Cybertron. Although, some of the areas are different since we had to adjust with our human allies staying here sometimes."

Maddie quirked an eyebrow and stared at her mother who seemed to be lost in a daze. "Mom, you stayed here a lot?" When she didn't receive a reply, she snapped her fingers. "Mom!"

Zaru was observing and remembering each part of the base. It was so quiet and familiar. Such a long time since she had been there, but she never forgot anything. So many memories were coming back to her with all the fun times they had in there. It brought a smile to her face, her blue eyes softening. _I really miss coming here._

"Mom!" She heard her daughter say.

"Huh?" Glancing at her daughter, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Maddie. I'm just strolling back through memory lane." Her smiled grew. "So, what were you asking?"

"I asked if you used to stay here at the base all the time like everyone else."

Zaru nodded. "Yeah. We all did. But only sometimes. It was usually only most of us with spark mates." A picture of Mirage invaded her head and her smile died.

Maddie noticed and frowned. "Mom, was this Mirage a 'spark mate'?

She didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes, honey." Everything was already out in the open. What's a little more information. "He was my spark mate. My one true love I guess you could say."

Aery smirked looking back at her mother and sister. "Mom, I would have never guessed you were the type of person to be in an interspecies relationship. Especially when the other species is a giant robot."

They all stopped when they came to another double door and Wheeljack looked down at his companion. "Aery, we never expected it either. Truly, this has never happened before. Your mother and the others were the first humans we ever met. So, we never considered the fact that us transformers would be able to become compatible with organics."

"I don't understand though. It's all so new." Aery looked bothered. It was all new to her. Seeing this giant before her was astoundingly new to her and her sister. There was so much to learn and she was more than willing to take up the task of being educated. "Would you teach me about everything, Wheeljack?" She smiled up at him, pearly whites showing.

Wheeljack's head tilted to the side as he studied this young human. She reminded him of Maggie for some reason. Perhaps it was the blonde hair and the curiosity that took over her acknowledging mind. She was definitely an interesting human he could get to know better.

"I will be happy to assist you with any knowledge you wish to know about us Cybertronians, Aery. It would be my pleasure." He made a gesture of bowing, making her blush.

The young blonde's cheeks flushed red and her heart began to beat a little faster. Just hearing her name from him made her feel hot. And she only just met him. Biting her lower lip, she nodded. "Of course. Thank you."

Maddie raised an eyebrow as her sister stilled next to their new friend. The atmosphere was strange. _Very_ strange.

TBC…

A/n: Another chapter done.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	6. Chapter 6

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: *sigh* AHH! I finally got another update! Enjoy!

**Chapter 5**

He watched her from afar on the monitors located in his quarters. She was still as beautiful as he remembered. Those long, green tresses of hers, how he wished to run his fingers through that hair again as she slept beside him. He also noticed how her body had changed a little, fuller than those three years ago. He smiled a little and pressed his metal hand on the screen covering her form just standing there looking around. In these three years since he'd been gone, Mirage wondered plenty of times what she would be doing every minute of every earth day. On Cybertron, time flew by much more quickly, but for these humans on the primitive planet, years felt like decades.

Had she thought about him since he's been gone? How long after he was gone did she cry for? The blue spy mech remembered those tears shedding in heavy amounts on her face as they stated their final goodbyes and made their way through the space bridge. It made him want to cry now even more since he was back, but she had moved on with her life finding a new mate and have children with him. His hand pulled back from the monitor and fisted. As her spark mate, it was his job to protect her and love her. He would not let anything to get between them. Even this new mate she had. No, he would make sure they were gone from the picture immediately.

Optimus noticed Mirage's demeanor changing back and forth from happiness to sadness then anger. He smiled a little himself knowing what his friend was thinking. Sighing, he walked over, clapping a hand on Mirage's shoulder.

"Mirage, I know how much you wish to see her close, but it is imperative that we keep ourselves hidden until the right time comes."

Mirage shook his head. "I'm sorry, Optimus. I can't wait that long. I need to see her right now. She's here where I am and I can't even touch her." His hand went back to the screen again.

"How do you think the others are feeling right now, Mirage? Don't you know how much they also wish to see their spark mates? It would not be fair if you were the only one given that opportunity."

He turned to face his leader, a frown appearing. "You wish to see your Beth, don't you?"

_My Beth? She was never mine…although before we left I did wish to finalize a relationship with that remarkable woman._ Optimus stared down at the steel floor. He did wish to see her again very much. She had a certain fire about her that sparked his interest more than anyone could know. Even though it appeared on the outside he didn't really want much to do with a human woman, inside he was begging to be with Beth whether or not she turned out to be a spark mate or not.

"I will see her when the times comes, my friend. In the meantime, stay out of sight until I give the order."

With a heavy sigh, he agreed. "Yes, sir."

As Wheeljack was still leading the small trio through the base, Zaru's cell phone went off. It was a familiar ringtone. Her grandfather's. The mech stopped walking and turned wondering what that sound was.

"I'm sorry, Wheeljack. It's _Jii-san._ You guys can go on ahead. I'll catch up when I'm done talking to him."

With a nod, he kneeled down sweeping Aery and Maddie into his hands. "This tour will be a little faster and more interesting if I carry you girls like this." He set them gently on each of his shoulders, each girl holding onto a side of his head.

"Whoa.. This is a little high up for me." Maddie mumbled before situating herself comfortably. "But it's not too bad."

Aery giggled a little. "All right! This is more fun! Let's get on with this tour, Wheeljack!"

Wheeljack mentally smiled and felt his spark jump a little. That happening, he spaced out a little before moving along. _No, it's nothing._ The giant transformer went through the double doors that hissed closed tightly behind him.

Zaru smiled small as she answered her phone.

"_Ohayou, Jii-san._"

"Ohayou, kochou. _How is the visit going so far_?" Sakauchi asked on the other line.

Letting out a small sigh, she said, "It's going fine. The girls seem to like Wheeljack and he's giving them a tour of the base right now." Zaru looked around realizing how alone she was. "I just…" Her head shook sadly.

Her words trailing off, Sakauchi became worried. "_Zaru, what is the matter? Aren't you happy they are getting along so well?_"

"No, _Jii-san._ I'm happy that things are going good for them. It's just being back here again after so long. Seeing all this." A tear in her eye was ready to fall. "So many memories of Mirage and the others are here. I've been trying to move on from all that. But it seems I can't."

"Kochou, _what did I tell you after they left?_"

Zaru sniffled a little. "That time heals all wounds."

"_Yes. It has been three years since your love left. Perhaps you are holding on to that hope he will return too much."_

"No! He will come back to me, _Jii-san!_ I know it! I just know it!" She shook her head. "I just feel like…" Words didn't come out again as she glanced up at the ceiling. "I know he'll come back. And I know he'll still love me just as I love him."

From their quarters, he kept close vigil on her as she spoke with who he assumed was her grandfather. A smile appeared. _So her grandfather still is alive after these years. It will be good to see him again._ Then, as he listened closely to her voice, he heard her state about her love for him still. _She still loves me. After all this time, she still loves me. _That made him even happier.

"Did you hear that? She still loves me!" He shouted happily to no one in particular. Not like any one else even cared except for the fact he was being a little too loud. The humans could probably hear them if they were close by.

As she continued talking with him, she thought she heard something from the other side of the hallway. It was very mumbled and faint, but she knew she heard voices. Were there other visitors here that she didn't know about? But if there were, wouldn't Wheeljack have said there was?

"_Jii-san_, I'll call you back in a little while. I need to check something." Pausing a second, she nodded and pressed the end button before shoving the phone back into her pocket.

She was caught between checking it out herself and going to Wheeljack saying there might be a break-in here at the base. But deciding whoever was there could leave before she could tell the mech, her body made its way running down the hall and toward the old Recreation Area that seemed to stand still in time. Nothing had been touched in a few years. Well, except for the couch and chairs which had been moved around probably due to Wheeljack's boredom. The ratty ping-pong table Sam and Mikaela made Bumblebee drag in long ago was still in bad shape, but still functional to play on. Slipping around the table, Zaru found what she was looking for: The Autosect computers. Grinning, she pulled out the rolling chair and sat down. Turning it on, she waited patiently as it booted up.

This was the only way she was going to find out if there was anybody else in the base. Luckily, the Autosect computers were wired into the security room of the base which could show everything to any of the humans a lot more easily. Finally, the computer beeped declaring it was done booting up, ready for use. Swiftly, she went through a few files, typed a little then brought up the security footage of the base. Nothing out of the ordinary. She could see that Wheeljack was already in the project room being praised by Aery for his inventions. Shaking her head, she clicked for the next few screens. Not seeing anything, she passed through them swiftly until one small screen caught her attention. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered if she was dreaming. Could it really be? Or was it footage from before their departure.

Glancing down at the name of the room the camera was situated in, she gasped and ran out of the rec room at the fastest pace possible.

Mirage had only looked away for a moment until he realized his spark mate was no longer in that camera range.

"Hmm." Bright lights lit up under his fingers as he screened through the different cameras throughout the base. She was nowhere to be seen. "Did she already leave?" He asked himself quietly. Passing a couple more, he got the camera for the Recreation Room and spotted her immediately at the Autosect computer. His optics narrowed, questioning what she could possibly be doing on a computer. "Optimus."

The giant mech turned away from Ironhide whom he was speaking with quietly. "Yes, Mirage?"

"What do you make of this?" He pointed to Zaru on the computer in the rec room. "She's on the Autosect computer."

Optimus leaned in. "Hmm. Well, perhaps she is checking the World Wide Web for something. Humans are unpredictable sometimes." He chuckled and patted Mirage on the back. "No worries, my friend. Everything will turn out as we plan."

Nodding, he continued watching her until he notice her running from the area. "What in Primus' name is wrong with that femme?"

She ran quickly as possible. The camera was in Mirage's quarters. That was live feed she was receiving! Not footage from long ago! That she knew for certain. _Mirage! You are here! You've been here for how long!_ Her heart beat faster with each second she ran. Zaru felt almost out of breath and cursed herself for smoking too much these days.

He tried to find out where she was running to on the cameras, but he couldn't find her yet again. She was too fast for him.

"Optimus, I think we have a problem!" He shouted finally finding the current camera she was running under. "She was checking the security cameras on that computer! She knows we're here!"

"What?" Optimus ran over and saw how close she was to Mirage's quarters. "Frag!" His plans were not going the way he wanted them to right now. If she came now, everything he wanted to be done before they revealed themselves would be disrupted. "Find out a way to keep her from coming in here!"

Mirage looked at his leader then at the video. She was running hard. Running fast to get to him. He knew it. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Optimus, but I can't do that to her! She's looking for me!" He ran for the door to his quarters.

"Mirage, wait!" The leader shouted reaching out an arm to grab him.

"No! I've waited long enough to see her!" Mirage pressed the buttons opening the door to his quarters.

"No, Mir…age…" Optimus stopped in his path, his blue optics widening at the sight before them. "No." He sighed heavily.

There standing at the doorway was none other than an out of breath Zaru staring up in the steely blue gaze of her only beloved, Mirage.

TBC…

A/n: Yay! Chapter updated! Hope you enjoyed!

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	7. Chapter 7

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: Another chapter out for you to enjoy. I've had a few nice reviews for my works so far which makes me very happy. So continue to enjoy the story. J

**Chapter 6**

The intense gaze of the young woman before him made his spark pulsate with madness. Here she was, once more after so long, in front of him still as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. The heavy breathing coming from her small human form made him even happier to know she was running to him. To get to him as fast as possible. That his spark will never forget.

She stared at him for a few seconds more before she doubled over, knees buckling out under her making her kneel on the cold floor. Her hands splayed to keep balance as Zaru tried to catch her breath. Taking in one more deep breath, she exhaled slowly and glanced up again.

"Mirage…" Blue eyes sparkled with oncoming tears. "Mirage." She stood up slowly, a hand reaching out for him.

Mirage smiled, setting down on one knee close to her and extending his own hand. "Zaru." The tip of his finger brushed against her hand, feeling it grab hold as though she never wanted to let go.

"Dear God in heaven, you are here. I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"No, my spark mate. You are not dreaming. I am most certainly here in your vision."

A sob escaped her throat, the woman running forward, his hand scooping her up and bringing her close to his face. "You are here! You are!" Zaru let it all go then. "_Koibito_, you are not a dream!"

Mirage's blue optics closed tightly and opened again as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned his body to face Optimus who was not very happy. "Sir, I'm…" His eyes fell onto the green-haired woman nestled in his hand under his chin. "I just couldn't bear to leave her unhappy any longer than I already have."

Optimus shook his head. "I understand the bond that you share with her, Mirage, but you understood that our mission was absolute. You have dismissed an order you were given. I'm afraid you will have to be confined to the base until such a time has passed."

He vented air, sounding like a sigh. Mirage knew that his actions would have consequences, yet he could not dream of leaving his spark mate alone for much longer. "Understood, sir. But may I still see my spark mate?" He motioned to the human who couldn't bear to let go of him afraid he would leave her once more.

The leader of the Autobots understood a bond between spark mates and couldn't fathom keeping them apart again when they found each other once more. "Well, I guess it will be all right. But she must be with you in the base if she is to see you."

"But who will watch over her if I cannot for the time being?"

"That will be my job for now, Autobot." The familiar deep voice of Barricade came from the very back of the room making Zaru's head pop up.

"Barricade?" She sniffled and rubbed her crying eyes. "Is that you as well?"

A sea of Autobots separated like the ocean to reveal the familiar quadruple-optic mech. A smirk appeared. "Of course." He stepped forward until he was next to Mirage. He reached out a clawed hand, running one finger through her hair. Her right hand grabbed onto it, giving it a small kiss before running her cheek against the smooth metal.

"Oh, Barricade, I'm so glad you are also here."

His smirk turned into a smile as he leaned forward. "I will always be here. Didn't I tell you that before?" Chuckling, he patted her head with another finger and pulled away.

"Optimus, now that Zaru knows we are here, what do we do about the others? Should we just let them know now that we are here?" Skyfire asked from his seat on the berth that belonged to Mirage. His optics held hope that he would be able to see his beloved Jade Rivers once more.

Honestly, Optimus wanted to tell them all no, but as he glanced around the room, he could see those who had spark mates watched the loving reunion of Mirage and Zaru. He didn't know if his men would be able to hold on for a little longer anymore. However, if Soundwave was going to take revenge on Starscream, would he _really_ consider using Erin, his spark mate, as bait? Most likely since it was the time Soundwave was ready to terminate the poor girl that Starscream interfered and stopped the plan from happening. It was she who was the reason for Starscream's sudden change in attitude, although he was still against becoming an Autobot, still dreaming of his Decepticon heritage. Shockwave was the same way. The way of the Decepticon still remained in his programming, but wanting to harm the humans was out of the question as his Piper was one of those humans who he had been hurting before. To jeopardize this mission by revealing themselves too soon as Mirage did would only harm them. What could he decide?

"Optimus, please." Zaru spoke up. "Let them know you are here. You don't know much pain and anger we all went through after you left us for Cybertron. It's not fair to make them wait any longer! Please!" Her hand fisted, held against her chest. "When Mirage was gone, I felt like my heart was cut out of my chest. Like I couldn't feel love anymore. Please don't let this kind of feeling linger on with the others any more than you have."

The giant blue and red mech let out a very deep sigh. "We came back to Earth because of a threat made by Soundwave on Starscream. If Soundwave even finds out we are here, his present course of action may change and you human allies of ours will be in immense danger. Will you be able to handle all that once more?"

A smirk appeared on the human's face. "How have we _not_ been able to handle the threats? You know us."

A chuckle, after so long, escaped Optimus' vocal processor. "All right then. But bide your time accordingly, men. We still have to be on alert for Soundwave and other Decepticons."

"Yes, sir!"

"What are these, Wheeljack?" Aery asked as she found, what appeared to be, scrapped comwatches. "They look like watches but I don't see any time on them." She picked one up gently and showed it to the inventor mech who kneeled down beside her one knee, bending over to take a better look at what she was holding.

Wheeljack nodded. "They do look like a human invention of a time piece, but no it is not, Aery. As a matter of fact, these are comwatches." He opened his hand motioning for the girl to drop it inside his palm.

"Comwatches?" Maddie asked, now interested in this piece of work. "What do they do?"

"Hmm, how should I say this? Well, a few years ago, each one of our human allies were given access to a guardian thus each human was given one of these to be able to contact us in case of emergency. But it was mostly used in sense to contact their guardians in case of trouble or any concerning questions."

"But why do you have so many of them?" Aery wondered seeing a small box with a variety of different colored watches. "Do you have a whole load of friends you give them to or what?"

Wheeljack shook his head. "Those watches belong to our current human allies. After Optimus and the others left for Cybertron, they felt no use for them any longer and so were given back to me to hold onto in case they ever reappeared." _Which they have._

Maddie pulled the ponytail of her blond hair out and ruffled it. "So, if they come back, will they get these back?" Wheeljack nodded. "I see." Smiling a little bit, "Wheeljack, now that we know you guys, are we gonna get one of these, too?"

"Hm, well, that's up to your mother, I must say." Dropping the comwatch back onto the small table, he stood up straight. "Now, over here is the -"

"GUYS!" Aery and Maddie turned at their mother's shout.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Zaru ran into the room, the biggest smile on her face they had ever seen. "Sorry I lagged behind. I just needed to… check on something." The green-haired woman glanced up at the mech knowingly.

"Did you finish what you were checking, Zaru?" With a simple nod from her and the aversion of her eyes back down the hall, he knew something was off. "Girls, please go on ahead and enjoy looking at my other inventions. I must have a talk with your mother about something, if you wouldn't mind."

The twins shook their heads, linking their arms and heading away from the two.

As soon as they were from earshot, a relieved sigh somehow escaped him. Why should he be relieved? His mission to keep the humans away from the quarters on the other side of the base had failed. What was his leader going to say about this? Will he be reprimanded for unfulfilling his duty as Optimus commanded? He face palmed. What was he going to do? Wheeljack was in trouble for sure.

"How?" Was all he asked.

"I used the Autosect's access to the security cameras in the base." The human answered. "Honestly, Wheeljack, when were you going to tell us they were back? Next year? In another few years?" She saw him shrug.

"I'm sorry. I had no choice."

One thing Zaru understood within Autobot ranks, was loyalty. She knew the mech was only doing whatever his commander had asked him to do. Not disposing information of their return was his mission. And she could tell, even with the face plate always hiding his face, that he was worried about Optimus. Sighing a little, she patted his leg.

"Don't worry, Wheeljack. I promise you, Optimus is not upset with you. I mean, he actually got a little peeved at Mirage when he opened the door for me, but he's not angry. It's also me that he is not happy with either. Hacking into the computer and using the base cameras to find their location was not in my best interest."

He nodded. "What about the others? Will they expose themselves as well?"

"Yeah. They will." Smirking, she walked over to the table holding the box of comwatches and dug through it. "I'll be taking _this_ back now, Wheeljack, if you don't mind." Pulling out a blue watch with black sides, she latched it onto her wrist and showed it off happily.

"I'm happy to see you smiling again, Zaru."

The smile decreased, but she nodded. "Thanks." She bit her lower lip. "I really haven't been happy in the past lately, have I?"

"No, but seeing the smiles on you and the others will be worth seeing after all this time."

It was about an hour later when Zaru thought it was best to go. She had promised her grandfather that they would all have lunch together. Even her dad.

"Are you sure you must leave now, Zaru? I would like if you stayed a little while longer." Her friend stood with them at the entrance to the base.

"No, I'm sorry, Wheeljack. We need to get going." Stepping forward, she gave his leg a quick hug before backing up. "We'll see each other more often now that everything's going to be okay." Winking, she turned and headed for her truck, keys in hand jingling with each zesty step she took.

"So, Wheeljack, we'll see you again." Maddie waved before running to catch up with her mom. "Mom, wait up!"

Aery and Wheeljack were the only two left to say their good-byes. Her green eyes looked down, not wanting to lock gazes with the enormous alien. "Um, well, I guess we'll be able to talk again some other time."

"Yes, we will, Aery." Noticing how she was acting shy, he mentally smiled. _Such a shy child. _"I wish to speak with you more, as well."

"Ah!" Her head sprang up and stared at him. "Uh, yes, yes! I would love to hear more about Cybertron!"

Seeing that ecstatic feeling on her face made his spark twist in circles. _What is this again? Why does my spark act as such?_ "My spark reacts to you for some unexplainable reasons." He blurted out unintentionally. _Scrap. Why did I just say that?_

Her emeralds held confusion but dissipated as a smile appeared. "I guess I should take that as a compliment perhaps?"

For a moment, she thought she could see a hint of redness on his face since he looked a little embarrassed. "Um, yes. Perhaps."

"Okay then. I'll take that as you really liked meeting me, Wheeljack." Winking herself, she waved and ran to the truck that was already started, hopping in and the vehicle pulling away.

His optics followed the truck as it kept moving away. "Yes, Aery. I do believe I liked meeting you."

Her fingers swiftly ran over the computer keys hoping to get her article done before the midnight headline. It wasn't enough that her editor didn't tell her about it until five hours ago. Damn them, she thought. Whoever dropped the project was going to be in deep trouble with her. She had many plans made for that night, but it was all pushed away from her mind. If she wasn't able to get this done on time, there was going to be a whole load of shit coming her way from the printers. However, she was able to time manage working as the materials needed for her writing was already stuffed together by the previous person who was originally in charge of writing it.

Glancing at the clock, she read 2 o'clock. Ten hours until the deadline. Already a headache was coming on. Perhaps, she wondered, if taking an hour or two to relax might help her work a little faster. Saving her work, the woman shut down the laptop and closed it quickly before pushing away from the desk and standing to stretch her body. Stiff muscles were not a happy feeling. Not to mention it felt like her butt felt asleep.

Rose ran her fingers through her thick mane of dark red hair as she looked around her study. The room felt small and too enclosed at that moment so she headed to the open door, picking her cell phone up along the way. Her bare feet padded quietly across the cold hardwood floor before making her way into the living room for a relaxing nap on the leather couch.

"Ah!" Her body slumped into the comfort of cool leather, pulling one of the pillows under head ready to fall asleep. _This is nice. _Rose set her cell on the small table in front of her resting place.

In a few moments, her eyes were drooping ready to fall into dreams until the loud, unwelcome ring tone of her cell phone jolted her back to reality.

"Ugh." Her hand slammed down onto the coffee table feeling for the phone. "Who the bloody hell is calling me?" Opening one eye, she read the name and pressed the talk button. "'Ello, love."

"_Rose, are you sleeping?"_

"No, I'm bloody hang-gliding."

"_No need for sarcasm, girl._" The voice on the other laughed.

Rose let out a heavy breath and pushed herself up in a seated position, feet planted on the edge of the table. "So, what is it you need, Leiana? I was hoping to have a kip before finishing work."

"_We have plans if you don't remember, my British friend, in case you have forgotten." _

She smacked her forehead. _How could I forget to call her?_ "I'm sorry, mate. I have a last minute piece of writing to finish tonight so I can't go anywhere right now."

"_And when were you going to let me know this?"_ Leiana wondered. _"We've had these plans for at least a week."_

"I know." She grumbled. "But I can't get out of it. The editor already had one person cut themselves from working on the article and I was their last hope since I was done with my other work."

There was a moment of silence on the end. _"This really makes me wanna punch someone."_

A slight laugh escaped the British woman. "Yes, I know, love. But I can't do anything about it. We'll just have to plan for another time."

"_Geez. You know, your work is piling up right after the other. Didn't you tell them you would only do this part-time?"_

Rose shrugged. "Yeah, I did. But I promise, I won't take on anymore hectic pieces after this one. So, we'll have more time together." With an agreement from her friend, and a minute more of talking, she ended the call and threw the phone on the cushion next to her.

Now what? What would she be able to do now? Her thoughts of wanting to sleep were long gone, now fully awake. Stormy eyes stared ahead of her. It was so quiet. Too quiet. The silence was deafening to her, making her feel crazy. _I gotta get out of the house for awhile._

Getting her stuff together, she left the house.

She turned to make sure the door was locked before heading to her black convertible. But before she was able to make it, a horn honked, the familiar truck of her best friend pulling into her driveway. Rose tilted her head to the side. _Wonder what she is doing here._

Zaru waved for Rose to come over to the driver side of the truck. "Rose, come here!"

The goth woman shifted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and took the steps over to the running vehicle, opening the passenger side door. "Hello, mate. What brings you to my part of the neighborhood?" Zaru didn't speak, but Rose had a slight idea that she was overjoyed about something. The big grin and the green-haired woman unable to stop moving in her seat gave it away. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Rose. Something is _right!_"

"What are you talking about?"

Zaru rolled her eyes. "Just get in. We're gonna go and have lunch with _Jii-san _and dad at the Riverside."

"I'm actually in the middle of a writing piece right now. I'm just going out for a short bit before picking up where I left off." But then again, going out to have lunch with friends sounded relaxing. She needed to be around others right now. "But it can wait I guess. Let's go dine for a bit. I would like to know what you are so excited about anyways."

"Excited? Do I really look like it?" She knew she could never get anything past Rose. "Well, I guess I am. The best thing happened this morning that I am going to be thanking God a million times over for tonight."

Grinning herself, the tall woman opened the truck door and jumped in. "This I have to hear!"

Zaru set the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway. She figured she should wait to tell the others about the Autobots return later on, but being able to hide anything as serious as that from Rose was impossible. The woman always saw right through her no matter how many lies could be told.

"Zaru, tell me please, did something smashing happen to you?"

As soon as she cut the vehicle to the right to drive back onto the street, Zaru looked over at Rose and said, "They're home."

The look on Rose's face was one Zaru would _never_ forget.

TBC…

A/n: Did you guys like that? lol

_Koibito_ - means "Sweetheart" in Japanese, btw.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	8. Chapter 8

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: Another chapter out and done! Please enjoy this VERY long chapter I've written! XD

**Chapter 7**

She could not help the look on her face from appearing. After what Zaru just said to her with a grin on her face, how could she not be shocked about it? Unfortunately, it took a short time for the words to sink in deep enough where her look of surprise turned into one of confusion. Back? They were back? Could it possibly be true? Rose made sure her ears were cleared before she asked again. Perhaps she might have heard wrong.

"Pardon? What did you say?"

Zaru rolled her eyes a little and waited until she was at a red light to answer her friend. "I said that they are back, Rose." The grin appeared once more. "They are back and possibly to stay."

The redhead sat back in her seat trying to take those simple words in. They were back home. Home after three long years of being away. She simply couldn't find any way to express herself that moment. It was a feeling beyond words that she felt inside. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal as she thought about Ratchet being back by her side. A smile formed on her own face, still not believing what her friend was telling her.

There were a thousand things she had wanted to tell Ratchet before he left, yet she had been unable to say them all. The fact that he was back on Earth thrilled her to the core. Rose could not wait to get her arms around him once more, to feel him near again.

"Ratchet's back." She whispered. "My handsome Ratchet is back here where he belongs."

Zaru could barely hear Rose, but she nodded understanding what she was saying clearly. "Yeah, Rose. Ratchet's back, Mirage is back. Everybody that left us is back."

She nodded, only to have her smile disappear upon thinking about what Zaru just said. "Everybody?"

"Yep." Zaru shook her head. "Everybody is back."

"What about those Decepticons? Them, too?" Rose asked a little worriedly. She had never been fond of those two Decepticons, except for Barricade whom she had known first before the other two came along. At her friend's look, a breath hitched in her throat. "Zaru, I thought they were being judged back on Cybertron for their crimes?"

"They were. And still are being judged from what I can tell."

The gothic woman didn't seem to understand. "But why would Optimus allow them to come back with them? I don't understand."

Zaru looked behind her quickly to see her daughters had their ears covered with ear buds listening to some music. She didn't want her children to hear what she had to say. It might worry them a little too much.

"Rose, the Autobots brought Starscream and Shockwave back to Earth because of Erin and Piper."

"But why? Are they beginning to trust Decepticons now?" If they were, the Autobots might have changed a little too much.

The green-haired woman turned onto another street before replying. "According to them, Soundwave has threatened to terminate Starscream as he is a traitor. And since Erin is Starscream's spark mate, well, let's just say she might be used as bait." The woman sighed. "That's the only reason why they came back to Earth. To make sure that she was protected and of course, us."

Rose could only nod. "But are Shockwave and Starscream willing to work with our friends in this predicament?"

"Of course. Starscream and Shockwave will protect Piper and Erin at all costs if they have to. Even though they have Decepticon heritage, they still have a spark for their spark mates."

Rose sat back in her seat still not understanding. Sure the Decepticons voiced how they felt about her friends before they were leaving for Cybertron. But, nonetheless, they were still enemy. She would never trust Starscream and Shockwave. Ever. They were still evil in her eyes even though she believed everyone deserved a second chance to amend themselves, but Decepticons were a little too much. Sure, Barricade was a Decepticon, but he was already with the Autobots when she first met them herself. The human would have to see for herself if they changed at all.

()()()()()()()()

After a laughter-filled lunch with their family, Zaru had dropped Rose off at her house so she could finish her work before expecting a call that evening. The redhead couldn't wait until the next day to go to the base to see the transformers. But mostly Ratchet she couldn't help but want to see. After all these years, he was back and going to be in her arms once more. The grin plastered on her face said it all. Work was very far away in her mind, but she worked diligently at a hastened pace.

It was around eight-thirty when she sent her finished work to the editor for review. Within an hour or so, he would send it back with any corrections needing to be done before finalization. Leaning back in her computer chair, she began wondering what would happen the second she saw Ratchet again. Of course, Rose knew he would welcome her back to him with wide open arms. That she knew for certain. Shaking her head, she stood up and stretched out. There were so many more thoughts wandering through her knowledge-filled mind, she figured a nap would have to take them away for awhile.

()()()()()()()()

The laboratory walls echoed sounds of metal clanging and engines whirring. Sparks flew from one of the projects the green mech Wheeljack was working on. He stood still as he melded pieces together one by one. Stopping for a moment, he reached to his left to grab a round bolt and moved back placing it on the machine. Turning, he walked a few feet to where his tools sat and grabbed what looked to be a giant drill and a screw driver. He looked at them, studying them a moment before heading back and continuing his work.

Hissing doors made Wheeljack turn around once more. His optics adjusted from the bright lights in his lab to make out the huge form of Skyfire. The fellow Autobot shuttle made his way inside, the doors closing back behind him.

"Skyfire, what can I do for you?" His comrade asked.

Skyfire shrugged his shoulders a little, standing next to Wheeljack. "I came to see if I might be of any assistance to you on anything you are working on."

Wheeljack nodded. "Of course, Skyfire. That would be nice, thank you."

The giant mech leaned over to see what was being built, but pulled away abruptly when the inventor turned on his drill. Sparks flew all over making him take a couple steps back, waiting until he was finished. A couple moments later, the drill stopped and Wheeljack turned to Skyfire.

"Could you please bring me that metal shaver on my tool table?"

"Certainly." Skyfire turned and made the few steps over to the table to find the shaver. He moved a few things around before he spotted it behind a small cardboard box. "Ah." Lifting it, he accidentally knocked the box over. "Oh slag. Sorry, Wheeljack. I accidentally pushed this box over."

Wheeljack walked over and peered around Skyfire. "Oh, that is all right, Skyfire. It is just the comwatches. They are unbreakable so no worries." Extending his hand, the white mech handed the metal shaver over and headed back to his work.

Skyfire began picking up the contents of the box carefully before he noticed a familiar green and white one. He picked it up carefully, setting in the palm of his hand. A soft sigh escaped him. It was Jade's. That he knew for sure. He closed his hand over it.

"Wheeljack."

"Yes?"

"You don't mind if I hold onto Jade's comwatch, do you? I would like to be able to give it to her myself when we meet once more."

"Certainly, Skyfire. I'm sure it would mean much more coming from you." He smiled mentally before continuing his work.

()()()()()()()()

It was around midnight when Zaru had finally got the girls to bed. There were so many things that happened that day, that it wore the twins out. No matter how much they protested about being tired or wanting to go to sleep, she insisted they go upstairs and sleep.

"Okay. Good night, mom." Aery sleepily kissed her mother chastely on the cheek while Maddie kissed the other.

"Good night, girls." Zaru smiled watching them trudge their way upstairs exhaustedly.

Aery stopped on the steps behind Maddie and leaned over the railing. "Crescent, come on." She whistled low, the green-winged macaw hearing and flying in from the dining area. He whistled back and rested his feet on her shoulder.

"Sqwak! Come on! Come on!"

"Che. I know, buddy." She lightly chucked him under his beak before continuing up the stairs.

"Sleep tight! Sleep tight!" Crescent sqwaked.

"Good night, Crescent." Zaru answered rolling her eyes before heading into the kitchen.

She made her way over to the silver, double door refrigerator and opened it. Reaching in, she pulled out a can of Pepsi from the bottom shelf and a jar of pickles. Clicking her tongue, she stood against the fridge door contemplating on whether to get something else out. After a moment, she shut the door and made her way to the kitchen table to sit down setting her soda can and pickle jar on the table.

The club owner grabbed a hold of the pickle jar pulling it toward her, ready to open it, then stopped. Several thoughts crashed into her mind suddenly and her grip on the jar loosened. They were back. For real this time.

Three years ago, they left this world to pursue their own wanting to see if they could bring it back to its glory after finally obtaining Starscream and Shockwave. Those three years had made her and the others miserable. The hearts of spark mates were left broken and unfilled. As close as a bond they each shared with their Cybertronian, the void that came upon them when they all set foot on that Space Bridge back to Cybertron came too quickly. All of them shed tears of pain and sorrow at their departure, taking several days to get back to the way things should be without having them around.

But no matter how much they kept themselves busy with either school, social life or work, the endless thoughts of them would always remain in their memory. Those hurtful words of that day came back to Zaru in a flash as Optimus explained to them about leaving Earth for good. Just the thought of Mirage leaving was enough to have her in tears all the time even before she knew they were gone.

The pictures she kept along with the others were only to help remind them of the happy times spent with the transformers. The best times of their lives. And now, they were back. Possibly back for good. Mirage came back into her life and she dared anyone to try and take him away from her again. She would fight against Primus himself to keep him within arms' reach.

Her thinking was interrupted by a knock on her front door. An eyebrow quirked in question wondering who would be dumb enough to come to her house this time of night. Shoving the wooden chair back, she moved out of the kitchen, through the small hallway before unlocking the door.

"Do you know what time it is?" She asked without even seeing who it was first.

"Well, I would think you would ask who it was before you answered your door seeing as Decepticons could show up anytime and you wouldn't know until it was too late." A familiar tone scolded her slightly.

Squinting her eyes in the darkness, she made out the outline of a rather large male in dark clothes, but bright blue eyes shone through the night.

Leaning a little outdoors, she noticed the big black truck parked behind her own. "Eh? Ironhide? Is that you?"

"The one and only, femme." He stepped forward a couple steps so she could see him better in the dim light on her front porch. "Who else could it be?"

She smiled a little. "Sorry, Ironhide. What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Well, first of all, you don't mind if I come in so we can talk, do ya?" He smirked a little. "I don't think our conversation is appropriate for public knowledge."

Understanding what he was saying, she stepped aside to allow the bulky man inside her home and shut the door behind him quietly so as to not wake the twins. "So, what did I do to earn the presence of your company tonight?" She asked while showing him into the kitchen and sitting back down at the table, finally opening her can of soda and taking a sip.

Ironhide stood behind the chair diagonal from her own seat, staring at her. "I've been busy speaking with Optimus ever since you left the base earlier this afternoon."

"And?"

He sighed. "And, even though he was against it all at first, he wishes for all of our human allies to merge together at the base this coming Friday."

Zaru spit out her soda, a little dripping down her chin which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand. "Ironhide, are you serious? Why wait so long? I thought he was okay with everybody knowing right away?"

Ironhide reached up scratching the back of his head. "Well, he wants to be sure the Decepticons won't make any moves first before revealing ourselves to everybody else since they don't know we're back yet."

Ocean blue eyes averted away from the holoform's own blue ones. They narrowed a little knowing she was hiding something.

"Zaru…"

"I only told Rose, I swear!" She held her right hand up quickly. "Nobody else knows about this! And I'm hoping my daughters didn't overhear me talking to Rose about it in the truck either."

"Frag! Zaru, don't you understand the current situation? The longer they don't know we're here, the less danger you'll be in."

She rolled her eyes. "Listen, Optimus didn't say anything about keeping my mouth shut about you guys returning." Zaru pointed out to the mech. "Besides, she had a right to know." Her eyes turned sad. "The poor woman's been missing Ratchet like crazy the past few years. And now that she knows he's back, her entire demeanor has changed from being in the dumps to excited." Shaking her head, she asked, "Don't you think these girls deserve some happy news after so long?"

Ironhide's head lowered as he grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it out, sitting in the vacant spot. "You know, you femmes aren't the only ones who were miserable." His arms folded across the table as he looked over at the young woman. "The second we stepped inside that Space Bridge and appeared back on Cybertron, I felt a void in my own spark. So did the others. The link between spark mates seemed to dissolve right away as though it was never there."

"I know the feeling." She nodded.

"Even though we were trying to act like everything was going to be all right, we knew it wouldn't be unless we saw you humans again. To refill that empty space in our sparks."

Zaru leaned over and set her hand on his large arm. "The second I saw Mirage again, my heart felt so complete once more. And I'm sure once you see all of them, your sparks will be refilled as well." She said with a reassuring smile.

Ironhide nodded. "Hm, perhaps. But I wonder if mine will be filled at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Kia Hawkins. That's what I mean."

Zaru quirked an eyebrow. "I don't get it. What does Kia have to do with anything?"

"I noticed it before I left back for Cybertron. Over the times that I have been in the presence of Kia Hawkins, I felt something in my spark. I didn't understand it until Ratchet explained to me what was going on." He held his head in his hands.

She didn't understand exactly what her friend was saying. What did Kia have to do with his spark? Did she do something to Ironhide before they left? After thinking for a few minutes, her eyes widened.

"Ironhide, do you mean to tell me that Kia is your spark mate?"

He nodded. "But I didn't have the spark to tell her because I didn't want to be disappointed nor disappoint her because we were already leaving for home."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, what are you going to do now that she'll know you're here, Ironhide? Are you gonna tell her or what?"

"Chances are I most likely should tell her, but I am not one to exactly express a romantic interest in someone. Namely a human." His huge hand moved to cover where his spark would be. "If I do not utter a word, I'll continue to have this pang of loneliness within my spark."

"Oh, Ironhide…"

"Primus, I do care for her." He smiled. "She is such a strong femme. Shares my interests in military and weapons and is one hell of a fighter."

"You also forgot stubborn, quick-tempered, a bitch…"

"She may be a bitch, but at least she's femme enough to admit it." The side of his lip quirked into a smirk which made the woman roll her eyes once more.

"Okay, okay." She patted his arm. "I'll admit she's rather honest with her feelings which is a nice thing. Sometimes." Zaru cleared her throat. "But you won't get any honesty from her unless you ask her."

He shook his head. "I don't know how I would speak with her. Sometimes, she is rather difficult to approach."

"Well, yeah. She is difficult to have a decent conversation with. But what are you going to do if you won't talk to her?" She questioned. Ironhide glanced in her direction, the smirk reappearing. Blue eyes narrowed. "Oh hell no! I am NOT speaking to her about this, Ironhide! Her love life is _none_ of my business." Zaru folded her arms across her chest. "No chance in hell will I ever do that."

"Please? At least try for me. I need to know before I take any chances so my spark won't break with any words she might say."

"Ironhide, me trying to talk to Kia about her love life is like trying to ask a tree why its leaves change color and fall in autumn." At his confused look, she sighed. "I won't get an answer. It'll just turn into this big blowout like we usually have." Seeing his facial features turn sad, she groaned. She couldn't bear seeing anybody upset like that. "All right! I'll do it! But if I get an earful of colorful words spewing from that big mouth of hers, I'm gonna come after you!"

He chuckled.

()()()()()()()()()

It was a few days later.

Zaru sat down at her desk typing away at her laptop, making notes in the club server. Recently, new orders had to be placed for a shipment of beer that, when being brought in by the delivery man - a very tired college student - he had tripped over his long shoelaces and fell, breaking the two 24-pack boxes of beer. After repeated apologies and a clean-up of the liquid drink by him, he made a call into the company and stated what he did. The boss on the other line could be heard shouting at the poor young man by Zaru and Rose. Rose, being the sweet person she was, motioned for him to give her the phone. He did and she explained to him that it was all just an accident and to replace the orders with new ones as soon as possible. Thanks to Rose, the young man wasn't scolded too badly by his boss afterward.

But Zaru was pissed off. That was a new brand of beer she was hoping to have ready for the club tonight. _Kimochi_ was an import from her country of Japan. It took two weeks for her to finally get it delivered and now, she was stuck without it. At least, according to the manager of the delivery company, they would be able to send another shipment to her the following day without any problems.

The club owner was frazzled. Too much was going on. Rose had always told her not to let things get to her easily, but she couldn't help it. There was so much stress right now, how was she able to relax and let things slide?

She wasn't able to see Mirage until Friday which made her angry. Aery and Maddie had extracurricular activites after school that needed much attention. Zaru was to take Aery to the local Home Depot or Lowe's to get things she needed to make a long tiled coffee table for her project. Maddie needed help with her cheers and choreography as well as retrieving items for a science project. And her grandfather had set up another meeting with the club investors. Rose definitely wasn't going to enjoy that.

Zaru stilled her typing, leaning back in her computer chair. And then there was the problem of her conversation with Kia Hawkins. She thought about playing it to Ironhide that she completely forgot about it because of everything going on, but thought against it as she remembered the sadness that showed in his eyes.

"What am I gonna do?" She mumbled to herself.

Seconds later, her cell phone rang. Grabbing it from beside her laptop, she checked the caller I.D. It was Maddie.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, mom, it's me."_

"Me who?" Zaru smiled a little.

She could hear Maddie blow a raspberry on the other line. "_Very funny. Uh, listen, my practice is going to run until seven tonight and then I'm going out with Vivianne and Andrea for some fast food after. I should be home around 8:30 or 9 tonight."_

"Is someone going to drive you home? You know I don't like you walking alone in the dark."

"_Relax, mom. I'll be walking some of the way with Vivianne and then it shouldn't take me no more than 15 minutes to walk the rest of the way home. I'll be fine. Don't worry so much."_

Zaru sighed. _Not more than likely. I don't want you running into a Decepticon on accident or something. _"Well, I guess it'll be okay. Just try to get home as soon as possible tonight."

"_I will. Thanks, mom! Love you!"_ She hung up and only beeping was heard in Zaru's ear.

She flipped the phone shut. "Love you, too, Maddie."

Damn, she really didn't want Maddie to walk alone in the dark. Even if it was just a few minutes. She wondered if she should call the teenager back and tell her she would pick her up. Or at least have Aery with her to walk home with. But then again, Aery was at the museum once more since a new exhibit on Asian culture was touring through which Zaru wondered if she should check out herself. It might be interesting.

She smiled. But what should she do about Maddie? Zaru trusted Aery and Maddie to a full extent, never believing they would put themselves in any kind of unnecessary danger. But now that the Autobots were back, chances are their enemies could very well have made their way back onto Earth as well in search of trouble. Biting her lower lip, she realized only one thing would make her feel better about it.

()()()()()()()()

The Decepticons circled the three Autobots with no means of escape. Their fiery optics glaring all of them down. Each of the four Decepticons pulled out their weapons, always itching for a fight. The Autobots readied their own weapons, preparing to attack when the right time came.

As soon as Thundercracker lunged at Sideswipe, he opened fire at his oncoming opponent, only to have him dodge with no damage. The red mech sidestepped the enemy with grace shoved him away with a clear shot between the blue seeker's optics. He fell quickly to the ground.

Mirage and Sunstreaker were dealing with two of the remaining three Decepticons, Bombshell and Skywarp. Both blasted at them at the same time, putting them out for the count. The last one they had to take care of was Soundwave himself. Although, they definitely knew Bombshell wouldn't be down for long since the blasts would only halt him for a few mere moments before he would reawaken and return the favor.

As Mirage and the Lambo twins circled around Soundwave, they began to hear a loud buzzing noise. All three looked around to see where it was coming from, only to look forward once more as all the Decepticons began to fizzle from their sights.

"What the frag is going on?" Sideswipe wondered as everything disappeared.

Mirage sighed heavily as he turned toward the control panel of the simulation training chamber. "This slagging machine must be glitching." He stored his weapons back into their rightful spots and moved to sit at the machine. Pressing a few buttons, Mirage tried to readjust the settings of the simulation they were currently on, but the buzzing sound returned making him slam his fist on the side of the control. "Frag this thing!"

"What's wrong with it, Mirage?" Sunstreaker asked. He was upset that he wasn't able to beat the pit out of Soundwave. "Get this thing working again! We still haven't slagged Soundwave yet!"

"I'm trying! But it won't work for me!"

Sideswipe headed over and looked at the data on the monitor. "I thought Wheeljack said this thing was 100% in working order."

Mirage glanced over at Sideswipe, an optic brow raised. "Wheeljack's inventions being 100% the first time? I doubt that, Sideswipe." Turning back to the screen, he pressed a few buttons and waited as a holographic screen appeared in front of him with Wheeljack's face.

"Can I help you, Mirage?"

"Yeah, you can help me! This simulator isn't working properly. You need to come down and check it out."

"Hmm. What did it do?"

Sideswipe leaned over to see Wheeljack. "We were in the middle of a training simulation when something buzzed and the entire thing disappeared. We don't know what went wrong."

"Well, did you try to readjust your current settings of the simulation?"

"I already tried that, Wheeljack." Mirage was getting a little peeved. If he was going to be stuck inside the base for awhile, he needed something to do. And if that something he wanted to do wasn't working properly, he just might flip out. "Come down here and fix it." He asked as politely as possible.

Wheeljack shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mirage. But I am currently in the middle of a new project which needs me entire attention."

"Wheeljack…" Mirage gritted his dentas while trying to smile.

"But as soon as I can relax from this, I will fix the machine. Please try and find something else to keep yourselves occupied until then."

The screen dissipated along with Wheeljack.

Sunstreaker scoffed. "This sucks! I didn't even get the chance to slug Soundwave in that ugly mug of his!"

Sideswipe shook his head. "I guess we could go to the regular training chambers for the time being."

"We have no cho-" Mirage stopped speaking as he heard a click and then static. "Eh?"

"What is it?"

"I am receiving a signal." He quieted for a second. "Mirage here."

…_[Hey, handsome.]…_

"Oh, Zaru, it's you." He glared at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, watching as they started to grin. Unfortunately for him, they could hear her loud and clear. He sighed, but smiled. "Hey, baby, what's going on?"

…_[I was calling cause I need a favor.]…_

"What kind of favor?" He hoped it wasn't out of his reach.

Zaru sat in her office, legs crossed as she spoke into her comwatch. "I need someone to watch over Maddie as she walks home from her group dinner with friends."

…_[Honey, I would love to help you, but if you don't remember, I'm confined to the base, so I can't do anything to help.]…_

She sighed heavily, wondering what she was gonna do now. "I don't know what I'm gonna do then. I don't want her walking alone. And if I pick her up, it'll be like I don't trust her or anything."

Mirage chuckled over the communications link. _…[Isn't asking me to look after her kind of like saying you don't trust her either?]…_

She never thought about that. "I just wanna keep her safe, Mirage. That's all. Especially if Decepticons might be lurking about."

…_[Well, I may not be able to do it, but I can ask Optimus if he would allow one of the others to watch over her until then.]…_

Sighing in relief, she smiled. "Oh, _koi bito, _that would make me so happy! If you can get an answer, please call me back!"

Mirage nodded. "All right, Zaru. I will. Mirage out." He ended the link and stood up. He had an important mission to fulfill for his spark mate. Nodding at the Lambo twins, he headed out the hissing double doors.

()()()()()()()

Optimus stood overlooking the recreation room that was built just for their human allies. It had been so long since he had seen them, but he remembered all the good times they had together especially in this room. This was the room where they all gathered together each time they received a new human ally. And it was the same room where the humans would be rather noisy playing the games they had brought in like the run-down ping pong table or the practically new billiard table Zaru generously donated from her club. Many times were movie nights in which all the Autobots and humans sat together watching the giant robot size television that Skyfire had made so they could all enjoy the movies or TV shows they watched.

But now it was so empty. No noise, no humans. It was all too quiet. He nodded. In less than a few days it would be filled once more with their friends, and honestly, he couldn't wait to see them again. Especially Bethany King. She was the young woman he was really looking forward to seeing again. That femme had caught his interest the first moment he had met her. Even though his spark never ached for her, he knew how he felt for her. The leader just hoped she felt the same way about him.

The double doors to the room opened revealing Mirage.

"Optimus Prime, sir."

Optimus turned to his old friend and nodded. "Mirage. What can I do for you?"

"I received a com-call from Zaru. She needs a favor. But only if you could spare someone for a little while this evening." His commander tilted his head to the side letting him know to continue. "Her adopted daughter, Maddie, needs an invisible escort."

"An invisible escort? For what reason may I ask?"

"Zaru's worried, because the Decepticons might be coming back, that she doesn't want her daughter walking home at night without any safety."

Optimus nodded. "Understood. I can understand her fears." He cupped his chin. "Perhaps a human law enforcement escort would be proper for this kind of situation."

Mirage nodded. "Certainly. But who? Barricade?"

He shook his head. "No. I will send Prowl. Barricade still needs to change the inscribed words on his alt mode. I do not wish for the young human to get upset should she see Barricade with that writing."

"Of course. Shall I inform Prowl myself or will you, sir?"

"I will speak to him about it myself, Mirage. Thank you."

The spy mech nodded his understanding and headed out of the room leaving his commander alone yet again.

()()()()()()()

Prowl moved the streets easily as he followed the young humans at a far enough distance as they walked down the not too busy sidewalk and walked into a fast food restaurant. The mech decided to park on the other side of the street just several feet away to watch for any movement from the girl known as Maddie. According to Mirage's spark mate, her daughter was heading from her place of learning to this human made building where they would get their sustenance for the last time of the day. Afterwards, it was slowly out of sight watching her walk home. It was a simple job, he felt. Nothing was going to happen to the girl while he was there. Especially since his form was that a police officer. Therefore, even if she saw him, Maddie would have no worries and just think a kind officer was hanging around.

Now he would wait. Hopefully not too long. Though he may be a police vehicle, sticking around too long might arouse some sort of suspicion to any of the humans heading around him.

It was about 45 minutes later when Maddie, Vivianne and Andrea walked out of the doorway of Ralph's Burgers. All three girls were so full from all that food, sleep was ready to come to them easily.

"Ah, I love those burgers! They are _always_ so good!" Vivianne, a blonde-haired girl, sighed happily.

"Well, take it easy eating those things! If you get too heavy, we won't be able to throw you in the air, easily, girl." Andrea, a red-headed girl, stated while laughing, adjusting the shoulder strap of her book bag. "It's bad enough we already have a hard enough time throwing you."

Vivianne turned crimson and reached behind Maddie to smack her friend on the arm. "That's not funny, Andrea!" She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not heavy! I only weigh like 125 lbs."

Maddie shook her head. "Every time after you eat from here, you weigh at least 150 lbs.!"

"I only eat that much because I have a high metabolism! I can't help it!" Vivianne argued with her co-cheerleader.

"Okay, chill, chill. I'm just messing with ya, Vivianne. So calm down." She linked her arm with her friend. "So, Andrea, are we still having practice tomorrow morning before school or no?"

Andrea shook her head. "Nah. I'm thinking of changing practices in the mornings to just two days a week instead of three. Everybody's been working their butts off so hard for the oncoming competition in a couple of months."

Maddie nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm getting really sore from all that practice. Maybe we should take a couple days break or something, Andrea, so we can all relax a little." She pulled her arm away from Vivianne and rubbed her shoulder. "I kind of fell really sore in my shoulder."

Andrea sighed. "Maybe you should have your mom take you to the doctor's just in case it isn't just a sore shoulder."

"Nah. I'll be fine. But if it does get worse, I'll make sure to tell her."

"You better. I'm not going to have an injured cheerleader on my team."

Vivianne nodded. "Agreed. Just when you get home, put some ice on it even a heat pad. It will work great to get rid of any soreness."

"I will do it before I head to bed tonight."

They continued walking down the street until they turned into down an alley way. Andrea stopped in her tracks. "Um…"

Her two friends turned to face her. "What's wrong, Andrea?"

"I don't like alleys." She explained nervously fidgeting with her backpack strap.

"Oh come on!" Vivianne's hands moved to her hips. "This is the shortest way to go home."

"Nah. I think I'm gonna head out this way. I'll go the long way around."

Maddie looked at her friend sadly. "Are you sure? We're all walking through here together. What can go wrong?"

"No. I-I'm gonna go around. I'll see you guys in school tomorrow. See ya!" She waved while backing out of the alley and running to the right.

The miffed blond scoffed. "She is so scared of dark places, it's ridiculous."

"Oh, shut up. You're claustrophobic, so it's not uncommon for her to be afraid of something."

"Hmm." Vivianne looked down at the ground and saw something shiny in front of her. "What the hell is this?" She stepped forward and picked the object up. "Shit! Andrea dropped her cell phone!"

"Go and give it to her! She needs that phone! It's like, her lifeline!" Maddie urged.

"No, I'll give it to her tomorrow in school."

Maddie sighed. "Just go and give it to her and head home. I'll be fine walking the rest of the way home alone."

Vivianne looked at her fellow blonde worriedly. "Are you sure? I don't think your mom would like the fact that you're a half hour away from home by yourself."

The girl waved it off. "Nah. She'll never know as long as you don't say anything to her. Besides, I'll run some of the way so I can make time."

"As long as you're gonna be okay."

"I will. Go ahead."

"'Kay. I'll see ya in the morning!" Her friend waved as she headed out of the alley to find the cheerleading captain.

Another sigh escaped the girl as she looked back and forth between the brightly lit sidewalk and the dim alleyway. Should she just walk around like the others or continue on this way? To take the sidewalk around would mean another five minutes of walking which Maddie didn't want at that moment. She was a little tired and wanted to be home around the designated time she told her mother over the phone.

Deciding, she treaded the rest of the way into the alley without thinking of the possible dangers that might await her.

Prowl saw the three human females turn into a dark area and waited to see what would happen. The red-haired one seemed to freak out a little and run off. The other blonde stayed with Maddie for a short time before running out herself. He wondered if the girl would reconsider going through the alley herself so he could continue to keep an eye on her. But no go. She immediately continued through the darkness, him losing sight of her.

_Frag! If I lose her now, I might not find her again!_ The police Autobot drove quickly down the street and turned into a small side road that might lead to where she would emerge from after the alley.

It was very dark down the road, no lights or housing of any kind could be seen. Just a few old buildings. He turned on his high beams not wanting to run into anybody or anything without proper notice. Slowly, his tires turned down the dark street until saw a small opening, wondering if that was where she would come from. Prowl turned off his car lights and waited. The poor thing would be startled if she saw him there. But as he turned the lights off, he couldn't help but notice a figure heading toward him, then turning into the alley. _Oh no._

Maddie reached the end of the alley, then turned to head out to the side road which would take her the rest of the way to her neighborhood. Soon, a cold chill went up her back and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was something wrong. Terribly wrong. _Oh no! Not now! Please don't let anything happen! I just wanna go home!_

She could see the side street right ahead of her about 20 feet. If she continued walking, she'd make it and be okay. Maddie always ran on that road going home anyways. So, as soon as she made it, she'd run and nothing would happen. But she was wrong. A shadowed figure turned into the alley from the street and she panicked. A panicked gasp escaped her and she gulped. Who was that person coming toward her? Were they just someone walking around or was it someone who could possibly harm her in some way? She hoped it was the better of the two choices.

The man approached her slowly, not wanting to scare her. At least not yet. He had been prowling around for some time itching for something fun to occupy his time. And, as soon as he saw the lone blonde teenager, he knew this time was better than anything. He smirked as he reached behind him retrieving what appeared to be a very sharp hunting knife and moved into one of the dim lights of the alley.

"Hey, sweetheart. Where ya heading?"

Maddie's breathe quickened. If only she had hastened her pace to go home, this wouldn't be happening. "Um, nowhere that you need to know."

"Hmm. You're one of those stubborn little girls, aren't ya?"

"W-what?"

"I asked a simple question, you gave me a shitty answer. Stubborn, you are."

"Uh, if you'll e-excuse me, I need to go." She took a step forward, hoping to race around him without hesitating, but when she saw the lit blade of the knife, she freaked. "No."

He sniggered. "Be a good little girl for me and scream." The man lunged forward and she screamed.

Very loudly.

TBC…

A/n: Oi! A very long ass chapter DONE! Hope you guys will look forward to the next one!

_Koibito_ - means "Sweetheart" in Japanese, btw.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	9. Chapter 9

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura, Sawdust, Motocross and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: Another chapter out and done! Please enjoy this VERY long chapter I've written! XD

**Chapter 7**

_Nemesis…_

The Nemesis was as quiet as could be. The ship was in shambles, but it was not uncommon for it to be so. After the Autobots had retrieved Starscream and Shockwave, Soundwave did not return to it as his main objective was to find and terminate their former leader. The giant blue Decepticon had journeyed his way back to Cybertron finding other Decepticons along the way. He spoke of Starscream's cowardice, weakness and traitorous ways to Starscream's seeker brethren, Skywarp and Thundercracker.

The two could not believe that Starscream would give himself up so easily to the Autobots. Although they knew he was cowardly in some ways, they didn't believe him to go with their enemy simply by giving up. But, since there was no one else they could follow, Soundwave became their only hope of finding him once more.

A loud buzzing sound echoed throughout the broken walls of the ship, getting louder by the second until a loud boom filled the throne area of the ship where Starscream used to reside. Several dark-cloaked figures appeared in a flash of light, red optics the only thing being seen through the darkness.

"Fracture." A deep, voice resounded through out the room.

A feminine voice followed. "Yes, Soundwave?"

"Objective: Power up the main grid."

"Of course." The femme Decepticon moved slowly, turning on the headlights from her chest area. Being able to see now, Fracture moved swiftly down the darkened hall, into another room where the main power of the ship was.

A few minutes later, the Nemesis was back online, and the Decepticons were able to see how bad of shape their base was in. Soundwave moved away from the others and sat down on the huge metal chair. He glanced around at all of the Decepticons he was able to round up to follow in suit of wanting to destroy Starscream and ruin the planet known as Earth.

"So, what are we doing back here, Soundwave?" Thundercracker wondered as he stepped forward through the sea of his comrades. "I thought we were going after the Autobots back on Cybertron. That's where they're holding Starscream and Shockwave."

"Mission: Find Autobots. Objective: Terminate Starscream and Autobots."

The blue seeker sighed. He guessed that was the only thing he was going to get out of his new 'leader' for the time being. But then Skywarp stepped up.

"What are we doing here back on the Nemesis? Are ya planning to fix it up and take it home to Cybertron?"

A black, purple and yellow mech with yellow antennae stepped forward. "If you hadn't noticed when we were on Cybertron and spying on those Autobots, Skywarp, they went through their Space Bridge." He turned to the purple seeker. "Most likely, Soundwave believes they have made their way back to Earth for some reason. Which I think we are to find out about."

"That's crazy, Kickback! Why would they go back to Earth when they left it in the first place? They aren't dumb you know!" Thundercracker argued, arms folded across his chest.

Kickback shook his head, smirking. "You would think so, Thundercracker, but the planet known as Earth would be the last place they would think we would look for them. At least, that's what I believe." His own purple arms crossed over his chest.

"Soundwave, are you sure they're there on that planet? Because if they aren't, what do you plan to do while we're there?"

Soundwave mentally smirked. "Objective: Terminate." Those humans were going to pay for what they did in the past to Megatron_ and_ for being allied with the Autobots.

_An alley in Tranquility…_

She screamed loudly as he charged for her. Ducking from his grasp, she moved around him hoping to make a run for it. Instead, Maddie's arm was grabbed roughly, almost pulling it from the socket.

"_Ah!_" She groaned feeling sharp pain shoot up her left shoulder. _Oh no! My arm hurts! _"_Let go of me!_" She shouted to the stranger as he slashed her arm with the hunting knife, blood dripping freely from the severe wound. Maddie shouted for help.

Prowl heard her screams and knew he would have to intervene in whatever was happening with the young human. If he didn't, he would be scolded for not doing his mission properly and, of course, Zaru would be very angry with him. But as he tried to piece his holoform together, he felt a spark of energy disperse from him, current pieces of his human form already disappearing. _Oh no! I can't project my holoform! My energy is too low!_ He knew he should have recharged some before leaving the base.

Now, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly reveal his true form to her and the total stranger. That would be the worst thing he could do. They were supposed to be hiding out on Earth in case Soundwave showed up. What to do, what to do?

Another scream sounded from her. This time, it was a pained shout for help. No. He couldn't wait any longer. The Autobots were meant to protect these humans, and this moment was meant to protect _her._ Going against his better judgment, Prowl transformed into his bipedal mode.

He got her down on the ground, his heavy body on top of her while his hand holding the knife cupped her mouth to muffle the screams. The man was getting turned on by the high school cheerleader. She was definitely the perfect one for him to ruin. The way her lithe body struggled beneath his own. Her heart pounding faster as though ready to beat through her chest. He could feel it all. His tongued snaked out of his mouth and licked a couple of tears streaming from her left eye.

"Oh, shh, shh, shh, sweetheart. I'm not gonna hurt you." He snickered. "Much."

It was disgusting. This disgrace of a man licked her! She shuddered, squeezing her eyes tightly, still trying to scream through his calloused hand. All she wanted was to get away from this nightmare and go straight home and crawl into her warm bed. But he was too much for her. His breath was absolutely horrid, breathing on her face the entire time. Maddie tried to think hard about what to do. _Those self-defense lessons aren't worth shit right now!_

As he removed his hand ready to kiss her, his ears picked up the sound of metal against metal at the end of the alley. His face turned to confusion, but relaxed when the sounds stopped. Ready to get back to his current task, the sounds of heavy footsteps made him look up, the side street ahead of them getting even darker.

"What in sans hell is going on?" He whispered.

Maddie heard everything to and took the opportunity she was waiting for. She shoved him up as far away from her as possible, pulled her leg back and ground into his family jewels. The hunting dropped from his hand with a short clang to the ground, hands covering his pride.

"Sweet mother of mercy!" His voice rose a few octaves, leaning forward to balance himself with one hand. "You're gonna pay for that, little girl." His voice sounded menacing at the moment. But she didn't care. It was her chance to get away from him. As she scrambled to her feet, a hand on her ankle pulled her back down again.

"No! Get off of me!" She shouted again. "Someone help me, please!"

Her pleas were answered in the form of something giant. Maddie stilled her body, eyes scanning up the huge being before them.

"_Let. Her. Go._" The voice sounded slightly mechanical, but human at the same time.

The man gulped and slowly released the teen's ankle. His dark eyes also stared at the thing before them. "What the fuck are you?"

"_Come over to me, Maddie._"

She heard him say her name. How did it know her name? Then it hit her. She had met something like this one before in the form of Wheeljack. But this wasn't Wheeljack, was it?

"W-Wheeljack, is that you?"

He shook his head. "_No. But I am a friend. Please trust me. And come to me."_

The girl shook her head. If this wasn't Wheeljack, then who was it? Was he just one of the transformers she had not met yet? Or was he new?

"O-okay." As she moved a couple steps toward him, an arm snaked around her shoulders and pulled her back against a muscled body. "_Eek!_"

"You ain't goin' anywhere, sweetheart. Not until I had my fun for the night with you." He whispered close to her ear.

Bile rose in her throat hearing those words. And that stank breath of his was making it even worse. "Please let me go." She whispered, more tears running from her green eyes.

Prowl growled. This human was getting on his nerves. And he was supposed to help protect this race along with his type? Getting down on one knee, he leaned into the small alley space, his demanding face only a few feet from theirs.

"_I will give only one more warning, human. Leave her be."_

The man gulped. Was he really going to risk going up against something like this? It was a fucking giant robot! He couldn't compete with something like that. Plus, it knew the girl he was currently latching onto. Perhaps he shouldn't put himself into more trouble with the female.

"S-Sure, man, whatever you." Once again, his arm slowly unraveled itself from her and she ran the second he let go to the giant machine.

Instinctively, she pressed herself against him, face buried in his large neck. Prowl wrapped a hand around her, shielding her body from the man. "_Get out of here. NOW!_"

Wasting no time, he fled, never to be seen again.

All she could at that moment was sob. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks in swarms getting the front of her shirt wet. Her teeth ground together trying to hold back the heavy sobs, body shaking in fright.

He had no idea what to do now. Never before had he ever had the opportunity to comfort a human femme, so he didn't really know what he was doing. She seemed to be having a breakdown. He was never good at those either. The only thing he could think of to do was pick her up and hold her close to his chest where his spark remained.

Prowl stood up, cradling Maddie in his hand. Her thin fingers latched onto one of his armor plates, pulling herself closer to the warmth of his body. His spark broke inside seeing her like this. How could human males do such a thing to the females of this planet just because they seem weaker than they are? He sighed and glanced down at the girl with shining blue optics.

"Are you all right?" He asked softly, so as not to startle her.

A moment passed by before she was able to give an answer. "Now that you're here, I know I'll be all right." Some reason, she felt she could trust this transformer. He said he was a friend of Wheeljack's, so he must be one of the good guys.

He smiled a little at her answer, his spark jumping slightly. _Hmm. That was unusual._ As he glanced down at her more, he felt something dripping down the armor plate she was holding onto. He reached his other hand around the girl and touched it. Pulling back, he saw the redness.

"Maddie."

"Yes?" By now her sobs subsided.

"Did that human injure you in any way?" He had to be sure it was nothing serious.

She gasped. "M-my arm. He cut me when he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me." Maddie pushed herself away from Prowl's chest and examined her own arm. It hurt badly, the blood having slowed but it was still deep. "I completely forgot about it until now."

"I must get you to the nearest hospital right away!" He set her down, only to hear her cries of fear.

"No! Please don't take me to the hospital! I hate hospitals!"

"But you must get yourself checked out. I will take you there and alert your mother to what happened."

"No! Please! You can't!"

He sighed. "Maddie, I must. If I don't take you to the hospital, who knows what might happen to you. You might get very sick if your wounds are not taken care of properly."

"No! Anywhere but the hospital! Please!"

He didn't want to continue arguing with her. Moving back, he transformed back into his police alt mode and opened the passenger side door. _"Get in._"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Not until you promise me that you won't take me to the hospital."

There was nowhere else he could take her but home. But chances are, Zaru wasn't home yet and he didn't wish to leave her alone while she was so weakened. "_All right. I will take you back to the Autobot base. I'll see if Ratchet will be willing to work on you." _

"R-Ratchet?" She didn't like the sound of that name. "Who's Ratchet?"

A small chuckle escaped him. "_Don't worry. He is our Chief Medical Officer. He has worked on our human allies before. I am sure he can help you."_

"Really? No hospital?"

"_No. But, Maddie, I still have to inform your mother of your whereabouts."_

She leaned her head back. Her mother was going to kill her for not walking with Vivianne and Andrea most of the way home. "Fine." The cheerleader walked back into the alley, grabbed her book bag, and headed to the passenger side of the police car.

"_Please buckle up. It is the human law._"

"I know." She smiled small before buckling herself with her right hand trying not to touch her left arm with the rough belt. "By the way, what's your name?"

As he started the engine, he replied, "Prowl." He wondered how badly he would be reprimanded by Optimus for bringing that human to the base.

_At Club Kunoichi…_

It was a little past 9 when the woman was done with her work. She stood up from her office chair and stretched. The faint noise of music could be heard through her office door. Zaru had wondered what time the private party she had booked for the night would leave. It was a weeknight, so of course the Sweet 16 birthday party would end early, she prayed.

The woman reached by her laptop and pulled out a cigarette from her near empty pack. _I wonder if Maddie made it home on time._ But of course her daughter would. She trusted her enough. _Maybe I should call to make sure._ Grabbing her cell, she was ready to dial when her comwatch beeped. _I wonder who's trying to contact me._

She looked at the comwatch. "Zaru."

…_[Zaru, it's Mirage.]…_

A smile appeared. "Hey, sweetheart, what's up?"

…_[I thought you might like to know that Maddie is safe with Prowl.]…_

"Oh, that's good! You know, I was just gonna call and see-"

…_[She's injured though. He's bringing her to the base. Apparently, she didn't want to go to the hospital.]…_

Blue eyes widened. Her daughter was injured? How? Did she fall and hurt herself? If she did, why didn't Prowl take her to the hospital? "Mirage, I'm on my way there!"

…_[Don't worry. Take your time. She'll be in good hands with Ratchet. Mirage out.]…_

The woman gathered up her belongings and ran out of her office, forgetting to lock the door behind her.

Leiana stood behind the bar watching the party goers. She sighed impatiently wanting the night to be over with. The poor woman had classes tomorrow, which she did not want to oversleep from. But since Zaru had a lot of club stuff to do, she agreed to manage the party. _Damn, this girl's parents _must_ be rich to book here. _The Latina glanced around at all the decorations and watched her friend Jade onstage doing her Pixie image.

A heavy sigh escaped her once more. She leaned on the bar with her elbows, head resting in her hands. This was getting really boring. Suddenly, she saw a blur of green and purple move past her at a high speed. _What the fuck was that?_ Leaning over, she saw Zaru running.

"Zaru!" She shouted.

The club owner stopped in her tracks. She had almost forgotten to tell Leiana about her departure. Turning and running back, she slammed her hands on the counter, bag hanging from her arm.

"Lala, I don't have time! Maddie got injured walking home from cheerleading! I got to go see her in the med bay!"

"Wait! Med bay? What Med Bay?"

Zaru shook her head. She said too damn much! If she comes clean about the Autobots being back right now, she'll get into so much trouble with Optimus! "Um, Wheeljack found her and decided to bring her back to the base to patch up her wounds."

"But why didn't Wheeljack take her to the hospital?"

"I don't know, but I gotta go! I'll call you when I found out what happened!"

Leiana shook her head. Her friend had been acting weird for a few days now and it was getting worse. She still must be aching for Mirage, the woman concluded. Ever since Zaru had brought Aery and Maddie to the base to meet Wheeljack, she noticed her boss wore the old comwatch she used to wear when the Autobots were still around. There was definitely something going, but she would find out later. In the meantime, she made sure to keep her cell phone on, waiting for that call.

_At the Autobot base…_

The Autobots stood together in the Recreation Area of the base. Prowl had notified Optimus ahead of time about Maddie's situation. Though he wasn't happy about it at first, the leader knew Prowl was only looking out for the girl's well-being. He feared Maddie would put up an even greater argument if he had taken her to a regular hospital and that was one thing he didn't wish to happen. So now, they all waited for their comrade's arrival.

The double doors hissed open as Prowl walked in with Maddie in his hand. She clung to him desperately as she saw robots of all different sizes and forms ahead of them. The one robot she was familiar with, Wheeljack, was standing next to a taller one with blue and red coloring.

Wheeljack noticed the girl's sudden discomfort of being surrounded by the Autobots and stepped forward. "Maddie, what happened?"

"I-I was attacked." She whimpered. Instinctively, she buried her face against Prowl's spark chamber and she felt it heat up.

His optics reddened around the edges. "Who did it?" He was furious. Who would dare him one his human friends? Whoever it was, was going to pay dearly for it.

"Calm down, Wheeljack." Optimus stepped forward and set a hand upon his shoulder.

Maddie felt a sudden aura of calmness and warmth around her after hearing that voice. It was low, but gentle at the same time. She slowly turned her head to face, who she assumed might be their leader.

"I can't say for sure who it was, Wheeljack. It was too dark to see. But I was so scared!" Her voice broke. She was still in slight shock.

"Maddie, my name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the Autobots."

She nodded slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Prime." He held a trusting smile and she really liked it.

He chuckled. "Just Optimus will do, Maddie." At her nod, he turned to the neon medic. "Ratchet, would you please take care of Maddie. I'm sure Zaru is on her way here." He said while looking over at Mirage who nodded in response.

Ratchet nodded and stepped forward to claim Maddie from Prowl who only clutched his armor tighter. "Maddie, please. I will not hurt you. I am Ratchet. I can help you."

She looked up at Prowl with red, puffy eyes for an answer. "Prowl…"

He smiled at her. "Do not worry. He is the best medical officer I know. He can take care of you just as well as human doctors can. Perhaps even better. I swear by Primus."

Maddie shook her head. Although she must have her arm checked out, she still was a little weirded out about being surrounding by giant alien robots from another planet. But Prowl, he was different. She was able to easily go to him when he called for her the first second they met. There was just something about him that made her heart race. But somehow, she felt sick to her stomach as well. The teenager wondered why.

"Do you wish for Prowl to come with you?" Ratchet asked. Perhaps she might feel safer with his friend there.

Prowl glanced over at Ratchet when he asked the girl that question. Why should he go with her? Sure he saved her life and she clung to him out of desperation of what has happened to her, but he needed recharge. And he needed it right away. His energy levels were dropping low. If he did not get sleep soon, he might go into stasis lock.

"Ratchet, I cannot go with the femme. I need recharge. I am drained from lack of energon that I was unable to form a holoform to protect her." His decision had to be final.

"Prowl, please." He felt the human stand up in his hand, her right hand touching his face. "I don't want to be alone right now."

"But Wheeljack can-"

"No. I want you!" She didn't know why she was arguing about it. Something in her heart wanted that mech to be with her every step of the way while Ratchet looked at her. "Please. Just, at least until my mom comes."

He rolled his optics. "All right. But _just_ until your mother comes."

"Thank you." She smiled and Prowl thought it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

_Half an hour later…_

The double doors of the rec room hissed open once more. This time it was a panicking Zaru and Maddie's twin sister Aery. Zaru had stopped by the house to pick up Aery cause she didn't want her daughter to be alone right then. As Zaru ran forward, her daughter stopped moving seeing all the different robots around them.

"Whoa!" She felt like she was ready to freak out. "This is… Whoa!' Her jaw dropped and all the transformers in the room stared down at her in surprise. "W-What are all of you staring at?"

Optimus was a little confused. Didn't Prowl and Ratchet take Maddie into the Med Bay awhile ago? How was she here?

"Zaru, how is Maddie with you? She is in the Med Bay with Prowl and Ratchet."

Zaru stopped in her tracks, bewildered by his question until she realized what he was saying. "Oh, uh, Optimus, this is not Maddie. This is Aery, Maddie's twin sister."

"Twins?" Both humans heard simultaneous voices.

"Oh boy." Zaru face palmed as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe stepped forward, gri.0ns on their faces. "Aery, meet the Lambo twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe."

Her emerald eyes grew wide as the two transformers kneeled down in front of her. "Uh, hi there." She blinked as Sideswipe made a bowing gesture to her.

"I'm Sideswipe. And this is my twin brother Sunstreaker. It is a pleasure to meet you." He grinned as he saw her blushing.

She looked down. _The base floor is very interesting. _The girl thought before looking back up to see them still staring at her. Sunstreaker more closer than his brother.

"It's uncanny. They resemble each other so much like we do." He stared as though observing her.

Noticing her discomfort, Sideswipe pulled his twin away from the human teen. "Don't you think you're a little too close, brother?"

Sunstreaker looked at Sideswipe confused. "Eh? I wasn't _that_ close! Besides, I haven't really seen human twins before! This is awesome!" His mind went elsewhere wondering what it would be like if his Leiana had a twin of her own. He'd be able to play double the pervert, that's for sure. A chuckle escaped him and the others just stared at him strangely.

The red mech shook his head. "Don't mind my brother. He's just strange in his own right."

That made Aery laugh a little. With Sideswipe around, she felt a little more comfortable with the Autobots. But although Sideswipe was very interesting, she wondered more about Wheeljack who was talking back and forth with her mother and Optimus Prime.

"So, she wasn't hurt too bad then." A sigh of relief escaped the mother of two. "Thank Primus! The second Mirage told me she was injured, I had all sorts of images going through my head about what could have happened!" Her hand was placed over her heart. "My heart kept racing just thinking of what happened to my own daughter."

Optimus knelt down next to the green-haired woman, nodding. "Yes, she will be just fine."

Zaru shrugged. "But I don't understand. How was she able to get attacked if Prowl was watching over her?"

Wheeljack shrugged himself. "He lost sight of her after she went through an alley way by herself. It seems her friends didn't care to go along with her, so she went herself and got caught by the unknown stranger." He was still angry about that, but had cooled down knowing Maddie was going to be all right.

"She should have known better!" A sigh. "I'm gonna check on her now. Relieve Prowl. I'll see you guys in a bit."

_At Club Kunoichi…_

The party ended approximately at 10 o'clock and the party members were either leaving or staying behind to chat with one another. Especially the birthday girl and her friends. Leiana wanted them all to leave as soon as possible. The faster they left, the faster she could shut everything down and lock up. She glanced down at her watch. It was a little after 10 now. _When are they going to leave?_

Not wanting to stand still any longer, the shift supervisor decided to have a walk around to check out the damage the private party made. There were streamers of every color pulled down from above them. Colored confetti covered the entire dance floor and several of the surrounding tables and chairs. Spilled drinks, cups and crumbled food were strewn all around the club and counters making her shake her head sadly. This was going to be one hell of a mess to clean up tomorrow for Zaru.

Her main concern was any damage to the furniture, walls and stage. If any, they would be billing the parents for damage made. She slowly made her patrol around the club and spotted a table with a broken leg along with a couple of chairs. That was the table the girl and her friends sat at. _What the hell were they doing when this happened? _That's when she remembered the girls were standing on the table while dancing to some music. Damage done. Time to notify the parents.

Leiana adjusted the green halter top she wore with her black knee-length skirt and sandals. Had to look professional when speaking of damages. Wearing the best smile she could, the 23-year-old made her way over to a small group of adults chit-chatting.

"Hello."

They all stopped speaking with one another and turned at her voice. One of the men eyed her very carefully.

"Can I help you?" A woman who looked middle-age with blonde-hair and slight wrinkles asked.

The supervisor held out her hand. "Hi there. My name is Leiana Lopez. I am a Supervisor here at _Kunoichi." _When nobody took it, she cleared her throat and pulled it back. "I am just reminding you that your party has ended and, if you would be so kind, I would like to speak with you about some minimal damage caused by one or more of your party guests."

The man who eyed her scoffed. "Please tell me you are joking?"

Her head leaned to the side, her long brown hair flowing gently. "I kid you not, sir. One of our tables, along with a couple of the chairs from that table, are broken. They will need to be replaced and you will be billed for damages."

The older blonde woman just laughed. "Oh, my young dear, you are such a funny little girl." She held her hand over her chest delicately while letting out small laughter. "Honey, we paid a great deal of money to have our daughter's party here. If any damage is caused, whatever we paid should cover it. Okay?"

Leiana let out a sarcastic laugh and smiled. She was getting a little miffed at these people now. "Oh, you may have paid to book your daughter's party here at Club _Kunoichi_, but we also have a contract if you do not recall."

She looked over at her husband warily. "What kind of contract did you make, dear?"

Her husband shrugged his square shoulders. "Just a common contract to have the club for our use, sweetheart. Nothing else."

"Well, as with all the contracts used with private party bookings for club use, it is stated in there, that if any damage is done during the event, the booking party will be held responsible and pay cost for damages."

"Warren."

"Sandra, I don't recall that being in our contract when I signed it." He smirked. "I believe this young lady here is just trying to squeeze more money out of us."

Leiana's hands fisted at her sides. This guy was really asking for a punch in his damn face! Wasn't in the contract! It was definitely in the contract. Even though, she wasn't the one who booked the party, she knew exactly what was in each contract. And, of course, she would never lie about such a thing! The girl's father known as Warren was really a pain in her ass.

"I'll squeeze more than just money from you, you-" She stepped forward, only to be stopped by a pale hand with long fingers and black polish. "Eh?"

"Is there a problem here, love?" Asked Rose Connelly. She stood next to Leiana with pride, a natural professional she was.

"Miss Connelly." Warren bowed his head to her in greeting. "It is lovely to meet you again."

Rose bowed her head in return, thick tufts of her red-hair settling to the front of her shoulders. "Same here, Mr. Thick." Her storm eyes averted to her friend. "What seems to be the problem here? I came in and heard some commotion."

Warren nodded. "Yes, you would be right, Miss Connelly. It seems your supervisor here is telling my wife and I that we are to pay for damage supposedly done by friends of our daughter."

"Is that right?" Looking for confirmation, the Latina shook her head. "So, there is damage that was caused by our guests this evening?"

"Yeah, and Mr. Moneybags says he won't pay up cause it's not in his contract." She glared at him with chocolate eyes burning.

"That's right. We won't pay. If it isn't in the contract, then we will not pay a cent more." Sandra explained.

Rose cleared her throat. "If you will excuse me for a second." She smiled and turned, setting a briefcase bag on a confetti-covered table. "Mr. Thick, here at _Kunoichi, _we make sure our customers are satisfied with what they wanted. We try to make everything to your expectations." She rummaged through the bag. "It seems you are satisfied with the party, but not with paying extra for damages."

"Miss Connelly." He stepped forward. "I paid a great deal of money for my little girl to have her party here because she wanted it that way. She is a regular customer here and I believe that she nor her friends would do such a thing to ruin your club."

Finally, she pulled a small pack of papers out and skimmed over them. "She may be a regular, but you were the one who signed this contract." The gothic woman handed it to him. "Which means you are responsible for anything wrecked here within club walls."

Warren shook his head in disbelief. "I don't remember seeing anything on here about that."

"Page three, paragraph five. It states, and I quote: "The signer of this contract is responsible for any property damage of Club _Kunoichi _during said event. If signer refuses to pay cost damages, he or she will be sued for the cost of damage." She slowly pulled the contract from his hands and smiled. "Therefore, if you refuse to pay, you will be sued by our club owner Zaru Kiys."

Sandra stepped forward, worry in her eyes. "Warren, how do we even know the damage was done during the party? That could have happened at any time before we arrived." She smiled. "Can you prove it was during our party this happened?"

"Mrs. Thick, we always check for damages _before_ an event like this to make sure nobody does get hurt if there is. But since Leiana here has surveyed everything and noticed the damage to our property, you are held liable."

"No. Unless you can prove to me that we did it, I am not paying squat." Warren smirked, folding his big arms across his chest.

"Rose, this scumbag isn't going to listen."

"Hmm. You're right, mate. He won't listen to us, but he might listen to the owner herself." Rose pulled out her cell phone. "Shall I give her a ring?"

Leiana was ready to stop her British friend from doing that. Zaru had too much on her mind right now with Maddie being hurt. "Rose, maybe you shouldn't. Zaru ran out of here earlier because Maddie got injured. She might be with her right now. Do you really want to disturb her?"

Her face fell. "Maddie's hurt? Is it serious?"

"I don't know." The graduate student shrugged. "But she ran out of here like a bat out of hell, that's for sure. She said that…Jack…found her and took her to the Med B-ical Hospital."

Rose quirked an eyebrow. Wheeljack took Maddie back to the base. Did that mean Ratchet was the one taking care of her right now? Oh she really wanted to see that giant, handsome mech again. But Zaru told her that he would come around in due time. Until then, it was sitting tight. Right now though, she had a client who was going against a contract and the boss should have a say in it.

"I understand, but I think if Zaru explains it all clearly to Mr. Thick herself, this will end right away."

"I guess." She gave up. Sometimes bringing the boss into these kinds of things were a good thing. She always knew how to ease up a situation like this one.

_Phone conversation…_

The phone in Zaru's pocket rang as she watched Ratchet work on her daughter. She about jumped a foot from the music that played. It was a new ring tone she downloaded just for her best friend. Sighing, she pulled the phone from her pocket.

"Yeah, Rose?"

"_Love, we have a major problem."_ Her friend sounded a little irritated.

"Oh? What sort of problem?" She glanced up, hearing Maddie laugh at something Ratchet said.

"_Well, first off, how is the Niblet?"_

Zaru laughed a little. Rose sometimes had called the girls 'Niblet.' She had no idea why, but it always made her let out a chuckle. "She's all right, Rose. I'm gonna be getting the full story in a little after the doc is done working on her." She moved the phone to her other ear. "So, what's this problem happening?"

Rose pulled the phone away from her ear and set it on speaker. "Zaru, say hello to Mr. Thick. He is the father of the daughter's whose birthday party was here this evening."

"_Oh? Uh, hello there, Mr. Thick. How are you this evening?"_

"I'm well, thank you, Ms. Kiys. And yourself?"

"_I'm quite all right now that I know my daughter is fine." _She laughed. _"So, Mr. Thick, what seems to be this major problem Rose is telling me about."_

The father explained the situation to Zaru who kept saying 'Okay' at the end of each sentence. After he was done, she began to explain her own things.

"_First off, Mr. Thick, I understand you are a bit angry right now. I do not blame you. But when you signed a contract with us, it was understood, on our part, that you had read everything in that contract and agreed to bide by it."_

"I understand, but I don't remember anything about property cost of damages made. Besides, how do we know the damage wasn't done beforehand?"

"_I assure you, Mr. Thick, if Miss Lopez says the damage was not there before the event, then it wasn't. As the owner of Club _Kunoichi_ I, myself, take the time to check everything in my club. If anything is damaged before it is opened, I have it removed and replaced if possible."_

He looked at the two women who wore grins on their faces. Now he was very angry. "I am not paying for _anything_ that you have no proof of!"

Zaru shook her head and sighed. This guy was maddening even though she's only spoken with him for a few minutes. "I am not a dim-witted person. I take every precaution in my business and I will not have it ruined in any way. That is why we have, what is called, security cameras, Mr. Thick. I believe you've heard of them."

"_This is preposterous! Come, Sandra, we are leaving! And we will not pay for anything more than what we have!"_

Warren grabbed his wife by her elbow ready to lead her out of the club when he heard Zaru's voice once more over the phone.

"_You leave now, Mr. Thick, and I can promise you that my lawyers will be contacting you."_

He huffed. "Suit yourself. Come, honey."

The couple left leaving Rose and Leiana alone with Zaru still on the phone. They could hear their boss snickering.

"What are you laughing at?"Rose chuckled.

"'_This is preposterous!' Ha ha! That guy must have a thick head! Can't get anything through it!"_

"Of course you can't! He's just a scumbag anyways."

"_Rose, if you can, tomorrow, please check the damage and estimated cost to replace it all. We'll send the bill to the Thick's when it is done."_

"Certainly, love. Although, I don't think we'll see a single penny from him."

"Or see him anymore period. Not after what Zaru said to him."

Rose pulled out a chair and made herself comfortable, setting the phone in the middle of the table so both females could hear the owner.

"So, Zaru, how bad is she hurt?"

"_She has a deep cut on her arm, but Ratchet fixed it up pretty good. He's trying to joke with her so she don't get scared."_

A sigh escaped the tall woman. "That's my Ratch."

Leiana slammed her hands on the table. Now she had to know what the hell was going on. "Why is she saying Ratchet is fixing her up? He's supposed to back on Cybertron with the others."

Rose's gray eyes widened. _Bollocks! I forgot she didn't know yet! _

"Well?" She glared at Rose with a steely gaze. "Is somebody going to explain or not?"

_Damn._ Zaru thought. _I let the cat out of the bag too soon!_

TBC…

A/n: It's only been a couple of days since I posted the last chapter, but this is actually the second part of that chapter I posted because I honestly wanted to leave some cliffhanger. Haha! And I guess I did the same thing with this one! Oh well! Enjoy! And be on the lookout for the next chapter really soon!

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


	10. Chapter 10

**Come Back to Me**

by Zaru

**New Summary**: A few years have passed. Things have changed for the humans and the Autobots have decided to make a visit back to Earth. Possibly for good.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Transformers. Leiana Lopez belongs to Ninjalala/Artist's Inquisition. Rose Connelly belongs to Bells of Eden/Blackwing Rose. Jade Rivers belongs to Icarian Angel Wings. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13white fang. Piper Somoon belongs to BlackHealer222. Erin Timmons/Everett belongs to Strawberrytop007. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. I own Zaru Kiys, Sakauchi Takigawa, Arc Kiys, Maddie Kiys, Aery Kiys, Fuse Nishimura, Sawdust, Motocross and others with small/very minor roles as well. Songs sang/mentioned belong to their writers/singers/creators.

**A/n**: Sorry for a really long time being gone, my friends. Enjoy.

**Chapter 9**

"Well?" The Latina was fired up. She knew there was a secret her friends had been keeping from her, but she had no idea it was this big. To keep this from her for who knows how long was making her body shake with major disappointment. "Is someone going to give me answer or not?"

Rose kept silent, staring at her cell phone in hopes her best friend would help with the right answer. After all, she was the one found out they were back first so it was only right she give a reply.

Leiana's lips pursed together. "Before I grow old here."

The two could hear voices, though faint, they could be heard on the line. Rose's eyes drooped a little in thought hoping everything was all right on Zaru's side of the communication line.

"Zaru?" Rose asked, moving close to her phone. "Are you there, mate?"

It was quiet for a few seconds before an answer finally came. "_Yeah, Rose, I'm right here. Sorry. Ratchet was just finishing up with Maddie."_

Leiana's anger lightened after hearing about Maddie. Letting out a sigh, she asked, "How is she?"

"_Maddie's just fine, Leiana. Unfortunately she's not in the best of moods right now." _She snickered.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"_Oh, well, because the cut on her arm was pretty bad, Ratchet had to stitch up her arm which, by the way, she's been frantic about every stitch made. I think he got to about four stitches before she fainted."_

"Oh dear. Is the Niblet all right now?" Rose was very worried about her 'niece'. "I'd probably do the same thing. Bloody hell I hate stitches."

Zaru laughed. _"Yeah, well, she just woke up and -" _She stopped in mid-sentence hearing her daughter talking. _"Rose, I need to see what's up with her. I'll see ya later and I promise, Leiana, I will explain everything."_

"You better! Because I'm tired of standing here like a moron waiting for someone to give me answers!"

"_Well, um…Oh, hey, Optimus." _

'Optimus is there, too?' Leiana mouthed to Rose who nodded slowly. The two women could hear Zaru speaking with the one who was probably Optimus. There was a very long silence between voices until their friend finally came back to the phone.

"_So hesitant that bot is." _She laughed. _"Wow, uh, I can't believe this, but I've pleaded with the big bot a bit and he agrees that it is all right if you two come to the base after everything is done at the club. That is, if you are able to."_

Brown eyes sparkled with excitement. Was it true what she just said? She and Rose were able to come to the base to see the Autobots? Would Sunstreaker be there? Oh how she hoped so. Her spark mate was the only thing on her mind a lot in the last three years and to see him again, oh, she had no idea what would happen, but knew it would be nothing but good.

"Yes! Yes! We're coming! We're going!" Leiana replied quickly before dashing off in the direction of the leftover party guests, shooing them out as though they were cattle. "Come, come! We're closing! You have to leave, please! And once more, thank you for coming to the club! Hope you enjoyed the party!"

Rose face palmed. "I guess we're closing quicker than usual tonight."

Zaru finished speaking with Rose on the phone, pressing the end button on her touch screen, before settling it back in her pocket. Blue eyes scanned seeing Optimus leaving and Ratchet gently setting Maddie down on the floor from the huge berth she had sat upon. The woman could see white wrappings around her adopted daughter's arm and smiled.

"Thanks, Ratchet, for patching her up."

Ratchet smiled down at the human femme, nodding. "It was my pleasure." His optics turned over to Maddie then. "You will come back to see me in three days and then we shall see how well you are healed. The stitches easily dissolve, so we won't have to worry about removing them."

Maddie nodded, smiling small. "Thanks, Medibot."

A chuckle escaped the CMO. "You're welcome, Maddie. Just remember to take care when you wash yourself. Keep the bandages dry."

"No problem." The teen saluted the medic before moving quickly over to Zaru who staring at her blankly. "What?"

"I don't know whether or not I should ground your ass or hug you tightly."

"What'd I do wrong, mom?"

Zaru snorted. "You know exactly what you did, Maddie. You should have gone with your friends the way they went. If you did, this," she pointed to the arm bandage, "would not have happened to you."

"Che. So I'm in trouble based off one mistake?"

"You could have gotten hurt worse!" Her voice raised a little. "Or even killed! Do you not think about the pros and cons of wandering into a dark alley by yourself? Kami, you are lucky Prowl was there to keep an eye on you."

"You're the one who sent him to stalk me in the first place, mom. Can't trust me at all, can you?" Maddie glared at her only to get a glare right back.

Zaru shook her head, disappointingly. "Do not put this back on me, young lady. With you being out at night and Decepticons still out there, no. I had to have a safety net for you just in case."

"Whatever." The teen looked away, biting her lower lip. She knew her mother was right. Though this was the first time she ever really knew about Decepticons, Maddie couldn't exactly blame her mother for being cautious. Sighing, she looked at her once more. "I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean for it to get out of hand."

"Well, you did and I am very disappointed in that piss poor decision you made by wandering off on your own." Her arms folded across her chest, pausing for a moment before adding, "You're grounded for a month."

Maddie's jaw dropped open at her mother's words. _She can't really mean that!_ "No way! You can't do that to me!" The teen narrowed her emerald eyes. "I have practices!"

"You can go to your practices. But that is it. School and practice are the only places you will be going for the next month."

"But I have that mini-competition in L.A. in two weeks!" She growled. "Are you gonna keep me from going there, too?"

Zaru just blinked at the young girl. She was really starting to grate on her nerves. "No! It's not like you're exactly _needed _to go! You were only going to check out your upcoming competition." The mother turned around. "So, no, you will not be going to L.A. since I will not be taking you. Not to mention you were just injured tonight! Cheerleading is out for at least a week."

"But, mom!" Maddie fisted her hands together at her sides, resting on partially bare hips from her cheerleading outfit. "That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, babe. Deal with it." She finally turned back to her daughter. "And another thing: You are _lucky_ to be alive if it wasn't for me being protective of you!"

"Trust issues much?" The cheerleader scoffed. "Why can't you ever trust me to do things on my own?"

"I do trust you, Maddie! But when there is a danger lurking about, I have to take precaution to make sure you make it through every day! Prowl made certain you survived tonight! And I think you owe him a huge debt of gratitude!"

A snort escaped. "That police bot was in surveillance mode. He only did what _you_ asked him to!"

"I did not send Prowl. Optimus did because Mirage asked him to."

"You had your boyfriend spy on me using police as cover? How low is that!"

"Maddie, just stop it! Okay? I'm done here! Whether I sent Prowl or not is not the issue! You did something wrong!" She pointed at Maddie. "He saved your life! You live to see another day and you're grounded! End of discussion!" She made a cutting motion with her hand signaling her daughter not to even speak to her about the subject any longer.

The med bay doors hissed open suddenly, alerting both human females to another presence coming inside. Glancing up, they saw it was Mirage. Zaru smiled when she saw her spark mate walking.

The Ford mech made his way over to the females in a few strides and bent down on one knee to get a closer view. "How are you feeling, Maddie?"

Maddie just looked up at him. "I'm fine, Mirage. Thanks for asking."

"When Prowl radioed in to tell us that you had been hurt on your walk home, I was very worried about what happened to you."

She shrugged. "I'm fine. A few stitches patched me up very good. So I'm fine, Mirage."

He smiled small. "That is good to hear." His blue gaze moved over to Zaru who could only shake her head. "Zaru?"

Zaru just glanced up at the mech who was her boyfriend. "I'm fine, Mirage." Clearing her throat, she turned to Maddie. "It's getting late. Perhaps I should take you girls home."

"No, mom!" She heard the call from her other daughter Aery who was running into the med bay at top speed. "I don't want to leave yet! This is the third time we've been here and there's still so much to see and learn!"

Her adopted mother raised a single brow. "Girl, you have school tomorrow."

"But aren't the others coming? Can't we see Rose and Leiana before we go?"

"You see them more than I do." Zaru grumbled and scratched the back of her neck. "Fine."

It was a little more than 45 minutes later that a ringing sound alerted the presence of an incoming visitor. Mirage walked over to a console observing the video feed. It was a familiar black convertible.

"It seems that Rose and Leiana are finally here." The blue mech turned to see Ratchet and Sunstreaker running from two different directions into the rec area of the base. "Slow down or you'll scratch your paint, Sunstreaker." He chuckled.

The yellow bot shook his head. "I don't really care if I get scratched up, dented or my paint gets chipped. I'll do anything to see Leiana again!"

The twin blonds were sitting on the slightly dusty couch, Maddie in a bad mood and Aery just overly excited. Though they looked exactly alike, at this point, you could tell who was who very easily. Zaru stood behind them, arms folded across her chest.

"Has Bumblebee been alerted to you guys being back here, by the way?" The club owner asked Optimus. "I mean, I'm sure Sam and Mikaela would be thrilled to see all of ya again."

"Bumblebee was informed the same day of our arrival. Mikaela and Sam have been notified and we should see them very soon as Sam is finishing up school before he is able to visit." Optimus said, optics a bit worried. "Though I do wonder if it was such a good idea to inform our human allies so soon."

Zaru rolled her blue eyes. "Okay, Optimus Prime. How many times are we going to have to go though this? We've been through this danger before years ago. I'm not gonna argue with you about it again." She pointed a finger up at him. "Besides, _you_ want to see Beth again, too! So you try and say it was a bad idea to let us back into your lives."

The femme was absolutely right. There was nothing he could say. For him to see Beth again would be the best part of his world. He had come to know Beth in more ways than one even though it didn't seem like she was spark mate material as his spark never responded to her like it would. But no matter. She was the only femme he wanted around him. Nobody else but her.

"Hey, Hound, Sideswipe, you two better clear a path." Mirage said as he rested his hand against the metal base wall.

"Huh?"

"Why?" Asked Sideswipe.

Before he could say anything, they heard the sound of footsteps running down the hall and the faces of two familiar humans appearing straight ahead.

"Sunstreaker!" Leiana shouted happily.

"Bloody hell! It is you, Ratchet!"

The two mechs stood straight, with smiles on their faces as their spark mates ran for them. To say they were happy would be an understatement. It increased to excited the second Leiana and Rose were nestled in their holoform arms. Everybody watched with smiles as the couples embraced for the first time in a few years.

"We're almost complete." Zaru said.

"Agreed. Almost." Mirage said right next to her, a holoform version of his regular form standing next to her.

Her arms went around him, feeling the warmth of the metal near her body and prayed to feel that warmth for a long time to come.

TBC…

A/n: I am so sorry for this really short chapter. I will update the story a lot more often and hopefully have a better chapter for you guys.

Sweet Pervy Mechs,

Zaru


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